The former Middleweight Champion took the fight with Kelvin Gastelum on extremely short notice, especially considering that he’d just been defeated in the main event of the blockbuster UFC 217 show at Madison Square Garden.
The night unfolded as many had anticipated, with Bisping looking good in the first few minutes meanwhile Kelvin was loading up for that one haymaker that was going to change the game.
As it so happens few probably thought that Michael was going to be able to take the big shots necessary that would see him through to the end of the fight, and yet, there was still a sense of shock when Gastelum dropped The Count for what could prove to be one of his last bouts inside the cage.
Kelvin has been threatening to make this kind of impact for quite some time now, despite the fact that his last few fights haven’t exactly gone to plan (with Vitor we are of course referring to the failed drugs test).
It’s a win that throws the middleweight division into a state of confusion, given that many want to see Gastelum fight for the interim title next against Robert Whittaker – despite the fact that he was defeated by Chris Weidman just a few months ago.
The scheduled date for such a proposed fight would be February 11th in Perth, and while it would certainly be a barnstormer of a showdown, the Ultimate Fighter 17 winner may need another notch or two under his belt before he can think about contending among the big boys.
Of course, we still need to consider what Michael Bisping is going to do next, given that he has taken a great deal of damage in the month of November alone. Thankfully the man himself has admitted that he’s only got one last big scrap left in him, and if all goes to plan, that’ll take place next March in London.
The proposed opponent ranges from Yoel Romero all the way through to a rematch with Vitor Belfort, and if it were up to us, we’d let Michael try and get that win back from the Brazilian.
Either way, you can’t deny that Bisping has a hell of a lot of heart, but it is interesting to see so many people switching their statements from ‘he’s such a warrior’ to ‘he never should’ve been allowed to fight’ in the blink of an eye.
