Bisping undecided on retiring at GSP bout or homecoming vs. Whittaker
Don't count Michael Bisping out just yet.
Not two days after revealing his November bout with Georges St-Pierre might be his last, the UFC middleweight champion detailed how he would like to call it a career on his "Believe You Me" podcast. While it may be nearly impossible to trump the storybook ending of a win over the greatest welterweight to grace the cage at Madison Square Garden, Bisping would also like to leave his gloves in the Octagon after unifying the divisional championship against interim titleholder Robert Whittaker in his native Manchester.
"I'm not saying I want to retire. I don't know if I've made my mind up," Bisping said, according to MMAjunkie's Simon Samano. "My wife wants me to. My manager says I should retire. He says, 'This should be your last fight.' He said, 'There's no better way' - and he's right - 'there's no better way than in Madison Square Garden, defending the title, beating a legend like Georges St-Pierre, then putting the gloves down in the Octagon.' That is the dream. That's what everybody says.
"For me, though, I'm kind of torn. ... And my wife kind of agrees. I want my last fight to be in Manchester. So there is the possibility this is going to be my last one, or my last one will be my next one against Robert Whittaker in Manchester. I'm not sure which one, so we'll see."
Bisping's sole defense of the middleweight crown - a unanimous decision over Dan Henderson - came at UFC 204 in his hometown, four months after he knocked out Luke Rockhold to become the promotion's first British champion.
The 38-year-old's wife wanted him to go out with the gold the night he beat Rockhold, but "The Count" would rather end his 37-fight career where it started.
"The English were always so kind to me. The U.K. support that I had over the years always blew my mind. And I think I owe it to them to have my last fight there. So, I don't know. Maybe it will, maybe it won't."
Bisping meets GSP in the Big Apple on Nov. 4 in the main event of UFC 217.