OVER 14 YEARS SINCE he made his professional debut, Michael Bisping (30-9) has announced his retirement from mixed martial arts.
The former UFC middleweight champion revealed his decision on the latest episode of his podcast, ‘Believe You Me’.
“Unfortunately it’s not a fight that I’m announcing,” said the 39-year-old, who was expected to have a farewell bout following last November’s defeat to Kelvin Gastelum. “I am going to announce my official retirement from mixed martial arts.”
Bisping, who has experienced problems with his right eye since 2013, explained that he has also suffered issues with his left eye since he was knocked out by Gastelum in the first round of their fight in Shanghai.
“I started freaking out, thinking: oh my God, I don’t believe this, I’ve got a detached retina in my good eye. I have problems with my bad eye, it doesn’t look good, so obviously I was kind of freaking out.”
The Manchester native, who’s also a regular pundit with FOX Sports, added: “It ain’t worth it. What else am I going to do? I’ve won the belt, I’ve had tons of wins, I’ve done everything that I set out to achieve. What’s the point in flogging a dead horse?
“Not that I’m a dead horse, but what’s the point? I’ve done everything that I set out to achieve, and fortunately now I’ve used my platform to open other doors. You know, you’ve got to know when to walk away. I’m almost 40 years old, the time is now.”
As a Cage Warriors champion, Bisping graduated to the UFC in 2006 by winning the third season of The Ultimate Fighter. He fought 25 times for the organisation over the course of a decade before finally achieving his goal of earning a title shot in 2016.
Following an injury to Chris Weidman, Bisping received a late call-up to take on middleweight champion Luke Rockhold at UFC 199. The veteran Englishman caused a major upset by knocking Rockhold out in the first round to avenge a second-round submission defeat to the American which happened 18 months earlier.
There was more revenge for Bisping in his first title defence when he got the better of Dan Henderson via unanimous decision. That result, his 20th victory for the organisation, set a new record for UFC wins, which was later tied by Georges St-Pierre and Donald Cerrone. Bisping lost his title to St-Pierre via third-round submission at UFC 217 at Madison Square Garden.
He retires with 29 UFC bouts in total under his belt, a tally which has only been matched by Jim Miller. Bisping also holds the record for the most significant strikes landed in UFC history.
“I want to say, first of all, thank you to my wife,” Bisping said. “Without her, it wouldn’t have happened. That’s a fact. She was incredible every single step of the way. My children. My dad. My dad was amazing. And of course everyone in the UK and around the world that supported me.
“So, yeah, there you go. Great career. That’s that. Thank you everybody.”
