Michael Bisping confirms retirement fight will occur in London

Earlier this month, in the main event of UFC 217, a 38-year-old Michael Bisping surrendered the UFC middleweight title to Georges St-Pierre, succumbing to a rear-naked choke after being dropped by a left hand.

Though this title loss seemed like a cause for a bit of a vacation, Bisping surprisingly agreed to a quick turnaround, stepping in to replace Anderson Silva against Kelvin Gastelum in the main event of the UFC’s November 26 debut in Shanghai, China.

While Bisping appears to be nearing the end of the road, he assures this last-minute bout with Gastelum will not be his last. Instead, he plans to retire when the UFC returns to London this March 17.

“God bless Shanghai, I’m sure the people are very nice, but no,” Bisping said on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour  when asked if he’d retire in Shanghai. “Again, I have nothing against China, they are a lovely race of people. I have never been to China, why is my retirement fight going to be in China?”

“There’s a fight card on in London. I would love to be on that. I would love to be a part of that to say thank you to the British people who supported me and have my last fight there.”

“I definitely want my last fight to be in England. I’ve always wanted my last fight to be in England.”

Bisping then explained why he took this short-notice bout.

“I’m taking this fight just (because) you’re only as good as your last fight, and last week’s fight didn’t go according to plan. I feel good, I’m in good shape, I’ve got no injuries, so why not?

“I was planning on my last fight being in March. This one came out of the blue so I guess I’m going to do one extra. That wasn’t the plan, but circumstances have put me in this situation.”

Do you think Michael bisping can take out Kelvin Gastelum in Shanghai?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 14/11/2017.