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Michael Bisping says Anderson Silva is a modern-day Bruce Lee: 'How can you not respect the body of work?'

Michael Bisping had nothing but praise for his former rival Anderson Silva who has found success in the boxing ring.

Silva, who is now actively competing as a boxer after a long-tenured MMA career, has looked nothing short of impressive since lacing up the gloves.

Known for his incredibly diverse striking, the former UFC middleweight champion’s hands have translated onto the boxing ring where he upset former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and made short work of former UFC light heavyweight champ Tito Ortiz.

“Anderson Silva is one of the greatest martial artists that this human race has ever seen,” Bisping said on his YouTube channel. “He is a modern-day Bruce Lee. Anderson Silva truly is one of the greatest of all time, and that is just a fact.”

Bisping defeated Silva in an all-time classic battle at O2 Arena in 2016, where he had to battle through some serious adversity courtesy of a thunderous Silva knee. So having outlasted Silva in a five-round war, Bisping thinks Ortiz should have been a lot more strategic against the elusive Silva, instead of lunging forward which resulted in him getting face planted.

“Tito said he’s gonna go out there and he’s gonna punch a hole in his head and he’s a fighter and all the rest of it, and he ain’t gonna use none of that wing-chun bollocks on him,” Bisping said. “Well, that is not the way you fight Anderson Silva. You can’t go in against Anderson Silva and be aggressive … Anderson Silva’s timing is impeccable, his reflexes are cat-like, urban cat-like and the diversity of attacks that Anderson Silva has is mind-blowing.”

Silva’s career resurgence has amazed many including UFC president Dana White. After winning just one fight in his past nine MMA outings, Silva has found new life in the boxing ring which Bisping thinks is an incredible feat at this point in his career.

“For Anderson Silva to still be doing this, at this level, at 46 years old, after the career that he had in mixed martial arts – we all know the fall from grace that he had,” Bisping said. “He lost a few fights and then he ended up getting knocked out against Uriah Hall, it looked like it was over. But he really has had a rebirth and as a fan of Anderson Silva, and make no mistake, I am a fan of Anderson Silva, you have to be. How can you not respect the body of work that he had?

“And also the way that he carries himself. Of course, he had the little thing with the steroids and what not and you all know my view on that and trust me when I fought him, I let him know my thoughts on that, make no mistake. I punished him for it, I made a fool out of him, I insulted him to the highest degree. But still, that’s water under the bridge, and Saturday night, Anderson Silva looked absolutely fantastic. So well done to Anderson, there’s still life in the old dog yet.”

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