There will be no farewell fight for Michael Bisping. On Monday, May 28, the former Ultimate Fighting champion and UFC middleweight titleholder officially announced his retirement from mixed martial arts. Bisping announced his retirement during Monday’s episode of his Believe You Me Podcast.
“So obviously I’ve teased this for a long time now, I might fight again, I might not. And unfortunately it’s not a fight that I’m announcing. I am going to announce my official retirement from mixed martial arts,” Bisping said.
“I was watching this movie last night and I just thought, it ain’t worth it. It ain’t worth it. I mean, 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. So, I want to say, first of all, thank you to my wife. 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 U.K. and around the world that supported me.
“So, yeah, there you go. Great career. That’s that. Thank you everybody.”
Bisping, a former Cage Warriors and FX3 light heavyweight champion, won season 3 of The Ultimate Fighter. He racked up a 14-0 record before losing to future UFC light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans. Following the first loss of his career, Bisping moved to middleweight. He then spent eight long years as one of the most exciting fighters in the UFC before ultimately receiving his title shot at UFC 199 in 2016.
It was there that Bisping knocked out Luke Rockhold to claim the title. He would go on to successfully defend the title against Dan Henderson, before dropping the belt to Georges St-Pierre at UFC 217 in 2017. The following fight, which ended up being the final bout of his career, was a devastating knockout loss to Kelvin Gastelum just three weeks after he lost the title.
Bisping’s manager Audie Attar released the following statement to MMAFighting.com:
“Congrats to Michael on a Hall of Fame career. The Ultimate Fighter winner, two-time Ultimate fighter coach, winningest fighter in UFC history and first British UFC Champion in history. I’ve been honored to work with Michael towards the championship years and have watched him fight through trials and tribulations as he was a perennial title contender, ultimately reaching the sport’s greatest achievement by winning a UFC Championship.
“Through all that he has achieved, the one thing I’m most proud of is how hard he fought for his family’s future, risking his life on the line each time he stepped into the octagon. I am proud to call Michael a client, but more importantly a dear friend. Now it’s time for Michael to achieve greatness in the next phase of his professional career, and the future looks bright, Mr. Bisping. Thank you for all that you’ve done for our sport.”
Now that Bisping is done competing inside of the Octagon, we can expect to see him move on to a successful career as a broadcaster and analyst on UFC broadcasts.
Congratulations to Bisping on a long and successful Hall of Fame career.