Sorry, Gokhan Saki, but Michael Bisping is ‘probably’ retired, he just hasn’t made it official

Former kickboxing champion-turned mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter Gokhan Saki recently joined a very long list of fighters on the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) roster hoping to be Michael Bisping’s official retirement fight.

Unbeknownst to “The Turkish Tyson” -- and everybody else -- Bisping’s combat career is over, he just hasn’t made it official. During “The Count’s” latest episode of “Believe You Me,” the former UFC Middleweight champion of the world took it upon himself to break Saki’s heart.

“Now, Gokhan Saki is at it, he has been calling me out. It’s weird, I was on the plane from Vegas this morning, sitting there looking at my Instagram. So he’s done this, Gokhan Saki I’m talking about, he’s done this series of stories on Instagram saying ‘I’ve asked my viewers who I should fight next, and they all said Bisping.’ And ‘Who would win in a fight? Six percent said Bisping would’ and blah, blah, blah. I wrote out quite a scathing response to him and I tried to send it but by this time I was in the air so I lost signal. Which is probably good, otherwise it would just start another beef with somebody that I have no intention of fighting, let’s be honest. I am retired, I haven't made it official yet. But, I am probably retired. Of course, when I say probably that still gives me a window to come back. But I am probably retired.”

And there you have it.

Of course, Bisping did leave a small opening, so if and when he does opt to return for a farewell brawl, it will be at Light Heavyweight in order avoid the tough cut down to 185 pounds again.

And since Luke Rockhold is likely headed to UFC 227 to tango against Alexander Gustafsson on August 4, 2018, a trilogy fight against the brash Brit is out of the question, as well. As for Saki, he will look to make it two in a row when he steps into the Octagon to face off against Khalil Rountree at UFC 226 on July 7 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Bisping, meanwhile, will continue to leave his mark on the broadcast side of things on “UFC Tonight” and the pre and post-fight shows on FOX and FOX Sports 1.