Michael Bisping: Maybe Two More Fights & That’s Me Done
On the most recent episode of “The Jon Anik and Kenny Florian Podcast,” UFC Middleweight champion Michael “The Count” Bisping was asked about retirement, to which he replied “Maybe two more fights and that’s me done.”
The 38-year-old Englishman won the title over a year ago when he knocked out Luke Rockhold, since then he has only defended the belt once against now-retired Dan Henderson. The inactivity of the champion has brought the middleweight division to a standstill.
Bisping was set to fight newly-crowned interim middleweight champion Robert “The Reaper” Whittaker next, but Whittaker is suffering from a knee injury sustained in his Interim title fight against Yoel Romero at UFC 213 (July 8, 2017), and is not set to be back until sometime in 2018, according to The Daily Telegraph.
Welterweight legend Georges St-Pierre is trying to make his return and fight Bisping for the middleweight title. Originally, the Bisping fight fell through, and UFC President Dana White was going to offer the winner of Tyron Woodley vs. Demian Maia at welterweight to St. Pierre, but after a lackluster performance from champion Woodley, White reinstated Bisping vs. St-Pierre as the fight to make.
Bisping is still recovering from a knee injury and will be out for a while, while St-Pierre said he will not be able to fight until after October. However, both fighters have expressed interest in the fight.
“The Count” said he is thinking about retirement, and if he only has two fights left before he leaves the sport, his last fights will probably be against St-Pierre, and if he wins, he will have to face “The Reaper.”
Below is Bisping’s full quote from “The Anik and Florian Podcast”:
Retirement scares me. But I can’t wait to f****** retire because believe me, getting punched in the face is getting kind of old, but at the same time, I do enjoy delivering a good punch to the face. So maybe two more fights, and that’s me done.
