Michael Bisping gives timetable for his retirement from MMA

Having made his MMA debut all the way back in April of 2014, reigning UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping has been fighting for a long time. And given that the champ is now 38 years old, it’s hard not to wonder when he might opt to hang up the gloves and call it a career.

Wonder no longer.

In a recent interview with ODDSBible, Bisping explained that, in a perfect world, he would only fight two more times. First, he hopes to take on former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre in the fall (though this fight is looking less and less likely). Then, he’d like to defend his title once more in his homeland of England. From there, he’d be happy to call it quits.

“If that fight [with St-Pierre] happens in November or December then after I beat him, one more fight in England. My last fight would have to be here, the fans have always got behind me, every step of the way. I’m not saying 100 percent it’ll be my final fight, but I can’t fight forever. I’m in a good place right now but who knows!”

Michael Bisping has not been seen in the cage since November, when he defeated his former foil Dan Henderson with a hard-fought decision victory. In his next most recent bout, he knocked out Luke Rockhold to claim the UFC middleweight title. The Brit’s title-winning defeat of Rockhold registered as one of 2016’s biggest upsets.

At present, Bisping is healing up from a lingering knee injury. While he makes this recovery, Robert Whittaker and Yoel Romero will vie for interim middleweight gold at UFC 213 this July 8. Though the St-Pierre’s flirtation with a middleweight title run casts some doubt on the situation, the winner of this interim title fight could well earn the next crack at Bisping.

Do you think Michael Bisping will follow through on these retirement plans?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 6/13/2017.