Michael Bisping is hanging up his gloves.
Bisping had been contemplating whether or not he wanted to have at least one more fight. Bisping entertained a rubber match with Luke Rockhold, but he’s decided that retirement is his best route. “The Count” made the announcement during a recent edition of his “Believe You Me” podcast (via BJPenn.com):
“You know, you can’t do it forever. Done it for a long time. Of course I’ve got issues with my eye. after the [Kelvin] Gastelum fight then I started having issues with my good eye, which I’ve never spoken about before… After the Gastelum fight, I went to a party with all my team, my friends that had flown in to watch. We went to a club, and because it’s dark I just kept seeing this flash out the corner of my good eye. I’m like, ‘what the hell?’ I kept looking. I kept seeing a flash so i kept looking, and doing that constantly … You got to know when to walk away. I’m almost 40 years old. The time is now.”
Bisping ends his career with a professional mixed martial arts record of 30-9. For a while, fans were wondering if Bisping would become one of the best UFC fighters to never win a title. Back in June 2016, Bisping shocked the world by knocking out Rockhold in the first round to capture middleweight gold.
After a successful title defense against Dan Henderson, Bisping put his gold on the line against Georges St-Pierre. “The Count” would lose the bout via third-round submission. That same month, Bisping took on Kelvin Gastelum. He ended up losing that bout as well via first-round knockout.
Many consider Bisping to be a pioneer for MMA fighters in England. There is perhaps no doubting his status as a future UFC Hall of Famer. Watch his retirement in full below:
What will fans miss the most about Michael Bisping?
