Thankfully, the main card for Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 122 event in China has a decent starting time – unless you reside on the Pacific coast.
For everybody else, the chance to wake up and kick on UFC Fight Pass will present them with an intriguing middleweight contest from inside the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai.
After dropping the belt to Georges St-Pierre earlier this month, Michael Bisping phoned UFC officials hours after Anderson Silva’s failed drug test was made public and asked to step in.
“The Count” didn’t suffer any serious injuries in the loss to GSP – just a bruised ego. He decided there was no better way to rebound than by returning to action as soon as possible, which meant boarding a plane and fighting Ultimate Fighter winner Kelvin Gastelum.
This is an interesting challenge for Bisping, as Gastelum is a strong wrestler with knockout power. He is a bit on the small side for a middleweight, having previously competed at welterweight.
Bisping’s plans are to go out on his shield, fighting this weekend and one more time when the Octagon returns to London in 2018.
While some might view him as egotistical, hot-headed or a number of other things, we must respect what Bisping has done in MMA.
So shake off the Thanksgiving hangover, wake up Saturday morning and catch Bisping vs. Gastelum.
