Former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping has officially ruled out the possibility that he’ll have his retirement fight at UFC Fight Night 127 on March 17th in London, England.
For several months ‘The Count’ had been signalling that this would be the destination for his last ever fight, giving him a chance to say a final goodbye to his UK fans on home soil.
However, two tough back-to-back defeats in the space of three weeks late last year has resulted in family and friends of the 38-year-old putting pressure on him to either hold off fighting until he’s had more time to recover, or ideally just call time on his career altogether.
Bisping had admitted that the decision was weighing heavily on his mind, and in the end he’s opted not to go ahead with his London plans.
“Don’t buy tickets to see me fight in London,” Bisping informed his fans on social media. “I’m not fighting. Just spoke with the UFC.”
It remains to be seen if Bisping does still plan on having one more fight in the Octagon later in the year though, with recent rumors having suggested that the UFC had been trying to line him up with a rematch against Rashad Evans at UFC Fight Night 127.
That’s a fight that may appeal to the Brit given that he only narrowly lost to him by split decision at light-heavyweight all the way back at UFC 78 in 2007, and in most recent times, ‘Suga’ has suffered a steep downward slump resulting in four losses in a row.
Really though, having already achieved his career-long dream to become the UFC’s 185lb champion, Bisping doesn’t really have anything left to prove, and so perhaps it wouldn’t be such a bad thing if he just heeded the advice of those closest to him and simply hung up his gloves for good.
