Bisping was 27 years old when he won the third series of the 'The Ultimate Fighter' in 2006

Michael Bisping's contribution to UK mixed martial arts may never be surpassed.

From the being the first Brit to step into and win a season of 'The Ultimate Fighter', to being the first to headline a UFC card and the first too to be crowned UFC champion, his retirement from the sport earlier this month was a landmark moment for UK MMA.

"He kicked open doors no British fighter had managed to knock on before, that's his legacy," said analyst and former UFC title contender Dan Hardy.

Bisping spoke to the BBC MMA podcast about his journey from life as a postman to UFC gold.

Age one: The punching postman

Bisping's first victory was on 30 December 2006 at UFC 66 when he beat Eric Schafer

"I was born in Cyprus as my dad was in the armed forces, but I grew up in Clitheroe, Lancashire," Bisping tells BBC Sport.

"I began martial arts when I was eight years old, Japanese Jiu-Jitsu. Kickboxing came next when I was a teenager. Then I had a bit of a break before I got into MMA around 2003."

Aged 24, Bisping's professional debut lasted just 38 seconds when he submitted his opponent.

"I was really nervous," he recalls. "It was my pro debut, though I say that in very loose terms as professional implies there was money involved, but I earned zero pounds from that fight. Even my wife had to buy a ticket!"

At this stage MMA was still being referred to as 'cage fighting' across the UK, and the Ultimate Fighting Championship was still fighting for acceptance in the US.

Bisping, who left school at 16 without much of an education, was skipping from one job to the next - postman, plasterer, bricklayer, plumber - in an effort to make ends meet. But in fighting he found his true calling.

"I quit working, started training full-time and would just DJ at weekends to make ends meet. It was hard. I already had a young family, but I knew fighting would give them the best chance in life."

DJ Mikey B had arrived and the domestic light heavyweight division was soon put on notice.

Age two: King of the UK

By the summer of 2004, Cage Rage 7 lost one half of its main event. Light heavyweight champion Mark Epstein had been scheduled to fight Babalu Sobral, a former UFC fighter, in London, and when he fell out injured they needed a replacement.

Bisping got the call.

"I was brought in as cannon fodder, but that certainly wasn't why I took the fight. Mark was tough as old boots, but I knocked him out in second round."

Shortly after the pair went at it again, amid talk from the Epstein camp of taking the fight lightly.

This time Bisping ended the fight in round three, another knockout. That solidified his reign as Cage Rage light heavyweight champion. Next, he added the Cage Warriors and FX3 versions too. Domestically at the time, they were the only three promotions that mattered.

"You have to remember that MMA was very much a fringe sport back then," Bisping says.

"There was no real recognition, it's not like it is today. I still wasn't making any real money despite being the best fighter in the country."

Age three. UFC calling

Bisping's record in the CWFC was 10 wins and no losses

By late 2005 the UFC finally returned to the UK to cast for the fourth season of 'The Ultimate Fighter', the reality show which had saved the fortunes of the UFC by landing it on TV in the US.

Keen to sign up a British middleweight and light heavyweight, Bisping admits he knew he was going to be picked long before the audition process even begun.

"I walked into Earls Court and looked around at all the other light heavies and I'd knocked out every one. My record was 10-0 and I was the champion of all the UK organisations."

Bisping admits to being nervous, of course. He'd been living in his car just the year before in order to train. Now he was boarding a flight to the US for the first time.

Yet despite proving to be a huge hit inside the TUF house, for Bisping the $100,000 cash prize paled into comparison next to his first five-fight UFC contract.

"I had a wife and two young kids by that stage so just winning it and making some cash was never the plan. I wanted to build a career in the UFC. I knew the hard work was just beginning.

"Back then people were still telling me, 'getting into MMA for the money is the wrong reason', but that was the only reason I was doing it. If I became a star in the Octagon I knew I could make a good living and improve the quality of life for my family."

Age four: The perennial contender

The Count's early UFC tenure followed a familiar path: win a couple, lose a potential title eliminator, win a couple more, lose an official title eliminator. For a long time Bisping, now competing as a middleweight, was dubbed the 'nearly man' of the weight class. But he insists it didn't bother him.

"I was happy, I was enjoying it. I was making good money doing the sport I loved. It was everything I'd dreamt of and thought it would be. I was a successful fighter in the biggest organisation in the world.

"The losses never hurt me because I was happy. I was living out my dreams. I wanted to represent Great Britain and be its first champion. But I never thought of giving up for one second."

Suffering losses to a handful of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) abusers did impact on his mindset, he admits, but it also drove him on to succeed even more

"There were a few dark moments," he said "These guys using PEDs just made me work even harder. I could always look at myself in the mirror."

Age five. The UFC champion

Michael Bisping reacts after defeating Luke Rockhold to become Middleweight title champion in 2016

After seven years chasing what had become almost an impossible dream, Bisping was on location filming the latest XXX movie in Toronto, Canada, when he checked social media to discover Chris Weidman had pulled out of a title fight against Luke Rockhold due to injury.

He immediately texted UFC president Dana White to offer his services but was informed Brazilian Jacare Souza was next in line.

Souza turned down the opportunity. The next morning Bisping walked into a gym in Toronto to lift weights and his phone blew up with fans on social media. Unbeknown to him, Dana had just announced on ESPN that Bisping would be fighting Rockhold.

"I always over-trained my whole career, but because of the late notice I was strong and fresh and I'd trained for a lifetime to get to this point. It wasn't that long after I'd fought and beat Anderson Silva in London, so I was still quite sharp and feeling great."

Bisping knocked Rockhold out in the opening round in what remains one of the biggest championships upsets in the sport's history.

"Luke refused to touch gloves so I said to him, 'no touch, fine, I'll touch you in a second'. The fact I was so calm and able to be witty in that moment, the real pinnacle of my career, shows how confident and relaxed I was at the time."

Age six: The Legacy

Just as he had done by entering and winning TUF, seeing Bisping with UFC gold around his waist has acted like a catalyst for the next generation of British mixed martial artists.

Ultimately, his legacy can be defined by one incredible year: 2016.

Wins over Anderson, Rockhold for the title, and old foe Dan Henderson - whose crushing KO of Bisping back at UFC 100 in 2009 was the first in a catalogue of final eliminator defeats - was the fairytale Bisping's legacy deserved.

Unsurprisingly, 'The Count' agrees. In fact, of those three wins, he still can't separate them.

"I get asked about my favourite fight all the time. Was it redemption and personal beef and the UFC belt against Luke Rockhold? Was it beating Anderson Silva in London against real adversity in the fight, coming back against a true legend of the sport? Or was It avenging that crippling loss to Dan Henderson in Manchester at 5:30 in the morning, which was mental? I was so apprehensive about that fight. I can't choose."

But if he had to choose. "Oh, you're making me choose, OK. Maybe Manchester… no, beating Anderson Silva…. No, wait, the belt… (laughs). I told you I couldn't choose just one."

Age seven: The media personality

Speaking on his podcast, Bisping, who suffered a detached retina in 2013, attributed his retirement to worsening eye issues

Right now, Bisping's immediate fighting career looks destined to play out from behind the Fox Sports desk. As a regular analyst on UFC broadcasts he's proven himself to be popular with fans and producers alike with his outspoken style and British humour.

But would he have gone so quietly into retirement had he not been crowned UFC champion? Even Bisping can't answer that for sure.

"I'd like to think I would have been satisfied with my career had I not worn the belt. My goal originally was to earn money to go back to college and get a proper job. The sport grew and exploded around me, so I'm very fortunate. But it was always about providing for the family initially, so of course I would be satisfied.

"But after all the fights and the years or genuine blood, sweat and tears it would have been disappointing never to fight for the belt.

"Nothing comes easy in life but the fact I've been able to achieve all I have just proves anybody can achieve anything in life. I'm proof of what I've managed to do.

"I'm just a normal, working-class lad from Clitheroe with no education who climbed on top of the world."