Heading into his main event fight against Kelvin Gastelum at UFC Shanghai, many people were questioning Michael Bisping’s decision to jump right back into action just three weeks after being choked out by Georges St-Pierre. Bisping’s own coach, Jason Parillo, even suggested that Gastelum was “a bigger threat” than Georges St-Pierre, but Bisping carried on anyway and was knocked out in the first round for his troubles. Now, with the benefit of hindsight, it seems Bisping sees why everyone thought it was a bad idea in the first place.

Speaking on his Believe You Me podcast, the former middleweight champion said that he thinks it was the wrong choice to have such a quick turnaround after a brutal loss and training camp.

“It didn’t go my way, as everybody knows and saw,” said Bisping. “I felt great going into that fight, I did. Looking back in hindsight, was I overtrained and emotionally and physically tired? Yes I was, but the problem with having a f**king huge ego and thinking you can still beat people is that I knew that but I still thought I could beat Kelvin Gastelum. Not taking anything away from him. He caught me with a beautiful left hook that put me down. God bless him.

“It was a big gamble, it didn’t pay off. Had it paid off it would have been great but that’s what you do. You roll the dice, you give it a shot, and you hope for the best, and the best man, I guess that was Kelvin so well done to him.”

Bisping is the most active fighter in UFC history, with 29 bouts in the organization, but the 21 day turnaround between his loss at UFC 217 and his loss at UFC Shanghai is the shortest of his career. The opportunity arose for Bisping when Anderson Silva was pulled from the fight with Gastelum over a failed USADA test and at the time, Bisping reasoned that he was still in good shape from his failed title defense. But Bisping says that didn’t work out well and that he was actually too worn down from his months of preparation for St-Pierre.

“That fight was me trying to exorcise some inner demons and try and get back in the win column ASAP.,” Bisping explained. “As I said, it was a huge gamble and for many reasons it was the wrong move, but I don’t regret it. If you look at the grand scheme of things . . . I can see that it was the wrong move, but at the time it felt right, so I don’t regret it.

“After the GSP fight, when I agree to take the Kelvin Gastelum fight, I thought, ‘Well, I just had a week off but I was in great shape, so let’s get right back to it,’ and I sparred everyday for a week. That’s all I did for Kelvin, Southpaws, five rounds, for five days, and then I flew out to China, and I was just done. Emotionally, physically, mentally, I was just spent.”

The loss to Gastelum gave Bisping the first losing streak of his career and dropped him from all the way down to No. 7 in the rankings, but unlike the St-Pierre fight, Bisping says this one doesn’t bother him because he’s at peace with his career.

“I’m not looking to become champion again, I’m looking to finish off my career with a couple of fun fights. I went out there, I didn’t get the job done. I couldn’t give a f**k about rankings. I’m not trying to be the champion again. I had that, that was fun, it was a nice time in my life, I can always claim to have had that title, and now it’s time to move on with my life.

“I’m totally fine with it. I’m 38 years old. I’ve got a wife and kids. I’ve got other things I want to focus on in life. Will I do one more fight? Yeah, probably. But that phase of my life now is done and I’m happy with that. . . You can’t fight forever. I was a champion, no one remains a champion forever, and I’m proud of that.”

Bisping has maintained that he would like to finish out his career next year in his home country when the UFC returns to London for a Fight Night card on March 17.

MUST-READ STORIES

$$$. The UFC is entering contract negotiations for their next television rights deal.

TUF. Sijara Eubanks recounts her failed weight cut that ruined her TUF 26 Finale title shot.

Aldo. Jose Aldo released a statement following his loss to Max Holloway at UFC 218.

Goals. Francis Ngannou dreams of fighting Brock Lesnar one day.

VIDEO STEW

The MMA Afterhour.

Free fight.

Invicta behind the scenes with Aga Niedźwiedź.

Re-Max.

Sabah Homasi calling for Herb Dean to get punished for his screw up.

LISTEN UP

Obviously Fight Talk. UFC 218 recap plus an Aljamain Sterling interview.

The MMA Circus. TUF 26 and UFC 218 recaps plus a brief look at UFC Fresno.

SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

The Twitter that got a lot of attention from MMA Twitter yesterday.

The P4P king talking about Holloway.

Max Holloway (@BlessedMMA) said he‘s been watching a lot of Vasyl Lomachenko lately and borrowed a few things for last weekend’s title defense. Did he get it right? Loma reviews the tape. pic.twitter.com/bVptBOMcpq — Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) December 5, 2017

Aldo statement.

Só tenho que agradecer por tudo a minha família que eu amo, minha equipe, melhor do mundo “Nova Uniao” por me fazer grande e campeão aos amigos e fans que sempre estão comigo, muito obrigado a todos!! Serei sempre otimista, pois acreditar é o primeiro passo para fazer acontecer!! A post shared by josealdojunioroficial (@josealdojunioroficial) on Dec 5, 2017 at 3:31pm PST

Shade.

A: Fought only once in 18 months against someone who wasnt even competing in the ufc a year ago.



B: Fought 4 times in 12 months, 3 of them in the main event in the last 8 months against former champions ranked in top 10 of the division. *Doesn’t have a modeling career. ‍♂️ — #OnAmission4Gold (@KelvinGastelum) December 6, 2017

Picking fights.

I'm gonna get ya pic.twitter.com/guAi43GD5P — The Diamond (@DustinPoirier) December 6, 2017

Tyrone you cry about how long you had to run to get the title... By looking at your shoes, it must have been hard! Now you're running away from it to MAYBE beat a washed up, maple syrup sipping Canadian who sees aliens?! - @TWooodley pic.twitter.com/ZMbK06ifiJ — Colby Covington (@ColbyCovMMA) December 5, 2017

That’s the spirit.

Haven’t had s great start to my ufc career but I ain’t giving up. Fight every month if I have too. We keep going — Darren Stewart (@Darren_mma) December 6, 2017

Did it suddenly get all misty in here?

One more @isaacmarquezabq video I saved the best for last! listen to what he says about his mom he lost to dementia!!! Never knew if I would do some coaching after I'm done fighting but after training this guy for 10 months every thursday, I now know I will defiantly coach anyone with the love for the martial arts that Issac has #DREAM A post shared by Diego Sanchez (@diegonightmaresanchezufc) on Dec 5, 2017 at 11:05pm PST

Overkill.

You know what I hate? Bitches who consistently miss weight to go into a fight with a weight advantage in order to make up for their lack of talent. #WMMA #Fatomweight — Angela Hill (@AngieOverkill) December 6, 2017

Congrats.

Pria Laila Sonnen has arrived pic.twitter.com/gvwDNPvg9F — claudia sonnen (@patdiason) December 5, 2017

Congrats.

Congrats.

FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Ricardo Lamas (18-5) vs. Josh Emmett (12-1); UFC Winnipeg, Dec. 16.

Tim Elliott (14-8-1) vs. Pietro Menga (13-0); UFC Winnipeg, Dec. 16.

Darren Stewart (7-2) vs. Julian Marquez (6-1); UFC Winnipeg, Dec. 16.

Nordine Taleb (13-4) vs. Danny Roberts (14-2); UFC Winnipeg, Dec. 16.

Michael Johnson (17-12) vs. Darren Elkins (23-5); UFC St. Louis, Jan. 14.

Michael Santiago (21-10) vs. Mads Burnell (8-2); UFC St. Louis, Jan. 14.

Guido Cannetti (7-2) vs. Kyung Ho Kang (13-7); UFC St. Louis, Jan. 14.

Roy Nelson (23-14) vs. Matt Mitrione (12-5); Bellator 194, Feb. 16.

TODAY IN MMA HISTORY

2014: Robbie Lawler finally won the UFC welterweight title, taking a split decision over Johny Hendricks at UFC 181. In the co-main event, Anthony Pettis submitted Gilbert Melendez with a guillotine choke to retain his lightweight title.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Wow. 68% of you think Floyd carried Conor in their boxing match. Not saying I disagree but considering all the Conor love that goes around, especially here, I definitely shocked with those numbers.

Anyway, take it easy and see y’all tomorrow.

EXIT POLL

Poll Did Bisping taking the Gastelum fight on short notice play a role in the outcome? This poll is closed. 76% Yes (1227 votes)

23% No (371 votes) 1598 votes total Vote Now

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