Middleweight title holder Michael Bisping
(30-7) will be back in New York on November 4th to face his greatest foe,
George St. Pierre (25-2) in the main event of UFC 217 in Madison Square Garden.
“It’s an iconic arena, it’s a big
fight,” “It’s Georges
St-Pierre. Everybody knows who Georges St-Pierre is. There’s not many people
who have crossed over from the MMA fan base into the mainstream, and Georges,
I’d say he’s there. Maybe not as much as, say, a Conor (McGregor) or a Ronda
(Rousey), but he’s not far behind, so it’s a big fight. And Georges brings a
lot to the table. He’s a tough challenge, and as a said, it’s a big fight. I
think this is going to be the biggest MMA fight of the year. There’s three title
fights on the event, so it’s a huge event.” – Michael bisping
But for “The Count”, after a 12-year career
with the UFC, in an exclusive talk, he confessed that this might be his last
fight.
“And yeah, I think the career I’ve
had, the years I’ve been in the UFC, the injuries I’ve had, the ups and downs,
getting close to title fights and all of this, there’s a possibility —
this might be my last ever fight. I don’t know if I’ll fight again
after this. So, what a way to go out if it is.”
“Just, I’ve been here for so long,” “I’ve
done it for so long now, and there’s other things to do in life. I mean, I
still love this, don’t get me wrong. But you can’t do it forever. You can’t do
it forever, and Georges — Georges should’ve stayed retired. He should’ve
retired as a champion. I’m going to beat Georges and I’ll retire as a champion,
maybe. I haven’t made my mind up on that yet. It depends.”
Bisping
also added that his family, friends and even his manager pushes him to retire
and end his MMA career in a good way.
“If there’s enough money involved,
maybe I’ll stick around. But as of right now, I don’t know. My family wants me
to retire. My wife wants me to retire. There’s a lot of people saying, ‘Mike,
you should retire.’ My manager says it. So, everyone’s in my ear saying, ‘Mike,
you should retire, you should retire as champion.’ I’ve earned some money along
the way, I’ve had a great career, I’ve represented my country. I’ve achieved
more through mixed martial arts than what I ever would’ve dreamed of. We can’t
keep going forever. You’ve got to know when the time is right, and I’m not
saying the time is right, but I am contemplating it.”
Away
from the octagon, there’s another gig that awaits Michael Bisping, ….and that’s
acting. By 2018, the spotlight will still be on top of his head as he’ll be
working on great movies and a series with vast network channel, Netflix.
“Next year I’ve got three acting
projects lined up that are all big — three big movies and a Netflix series.
I’ve got things going on outside the Octagon and I’ve got money that I can earn
outside of the Octagon. Ultimately, we do this for the money. You’re doing this
right now because you want to earn money. I fight in the UFC because I want to
earn money. And if I can earn money outside of the Octagon that’s just as good,
that I don’t have to risk my health for, then it makes sense, and I can retire
as the champion and parlay that into an active, successful career outside of
the Octagon. And retiring a champion helps that. Retiring after you struggle
through a ton of losses, and you once were champion and then you get seven
shades of sh*t knocked out of you, you’re still making a payday — I’ve done
myself an injustice there.”
In the
end, Bisping cleared that there’s no solid decision yet about his future with
the sport, admitting that he can’t hang on it forever, it’s a 50/50 but there’s
a possibility.
“It’s a 50/50 (chance I retire),” “It
may or may not be. But not because — you know when you hear Dana (White) say,
‘When people start talking about retirement, that means they’re done.’ That
doesn’t mean that at all. I’m just trying to think smartly here, because you
can’t do it forever. You really can’t. And you’ve got to know when to walk away.
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