Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight champion Michael Bisping was praised by the promotion, as well as the mixed martial arts (MMA) community, for stepping in on short notice to fight Kelvin Gastelum at UFC Shanghai last month on UFC Fight Pass.
A hole that needed to be plugged when Andy was ... not so dandy.
But the back patting quickly turned to finger pointing when “The Count” was creamed by the former welterweight (replay), a knockout that may have been helped along by Bisping’s failure to receive adequate rest after getting concussed by Georges St-Pierre at UFC 217 just a few weeks prior.
“Rush” talks to TSN.ca:
“I believe for the UFC, that was not good to let an athlete fight after getting concussed in a fight for the world title and then getting choked out. I don’t think it was medically a good thing for the UFC. But for Michael, as a fighter, I understand his point of view. He wanted to turn around the table and he wanted to do something that was special and I can understand that because coming back after four years myself, it was a lot of risk, and I wanted to do something special and I succeeded, I’m happy I did it. Unfortunately for Michael, it failed. But I can respect that from a man.”
Health needs to be the No. 1 priority.
Bisping is medically suspended until early 2018 but should be ready to go by the UFC London event in March, a combat sports extravaganza that is expected to mark the final fight of “The Count’s” storied career.
As for St-Pierre, he’s dealing with his own medical issues and is unlikely to defend the strap he stripped form the Brit, which means the promotion will have to cobble together a new championship showdown.
Probably between these two.
Get the latest gear
