Michael Bisping details what’s next
Michael Bisping would have to reenter the USADA testing pool for six months before fighting. But it’s clear he won’t. And it’s clear why.
Former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping had an extraordinary fight career, and appears to be on track for an extraordinary post-fight career:
•He’s opening up over 100 UFC Gyms in the UK, and already owns one in the USA;
•He will do color commentary for Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series, a potential lead into calling UFC events;
•He owns Playline.com, a fantasy sports website;
•And he plans to coach at some point.
Countless fighters retire and then unretire, often sustaining sometimes permanent damage. The wise Count is done at 39. If he has any regrets at all, it’s over not retiring earlier.
“When I fought ‘GSP’ and lost the belt, I should have retired there and then,” said Bisping to Brett Okamoto for ESPN. “I kind of knew. My plan was to defend the belt three times. Henderson, Georges, the No. 1 contender — then call it a day. Obviously, I didn’t win the second fight, so we didn’t get that far. But that was the plan.”
“I’ve always wanted to leave the door open. Dana called me, and I even tried to dig my way out of it then. He said, ‘Hey, Mike, are you sure about this?’ And I almost talked myself out of it. It kind of came to a point where I had to make it final.”
“The UFC emailed me and said, ‘Do you want to be left in the testing pool, just in case?’ And I said, ‘No. Take me out.’
“The time was right, honestly. It feels like a massive burden has been lifted off my shoulders, because I was always second-guessing, always thinking, ‘Am I gonna fight once more?’ Now, it’s done.”
Bisping would have to reenter the USADA testing pool for six months before fighting. But it’s clear he won’t. And it’s clear why.
“My right eye was constantly a worry,” he explained. “The legal requirement to fight is 20/100 vision. That’s not very good, and I passed by the skin of my teeth. I was always worried, every single fight, that perhaps I would get there and the commission would take a look at my eye and pull me.
“My left sees perfectly fine, but it’s at a higher chance of a detached retina. When that happened after my last fight, it panicked me. I’m ready to focus on other things, and I wouldn’t have been able to if I didn’t commit to retirement. I want to commentate for the Contender Series, and then move on to calling UFC fights. That’s the plan.”