Michael Bisping, a former middleweight champ finally has an opponent for his retirement fight.
Lyoto Machida, a former UFC champion returned to his winning ways at UFC Fight Night 125 scoring a decision victory over Eryk Anders on Saturday (Feb. 3, 2018) in Belem, Brazil.
Lyoto Machida took the chance to call-out “The Count” in his post-fight UFC octagon interview, stating “Michael Bisping, I’m here for you man.”
Bisping was speaking on a recent edition of his podcast, where he addressed Machida’s call-out and had nothing but praise for “The Dragon.”
He just said we were supposed to fight a couple of times over the years and that it hadn’t happened and that basically he had a lot of respect for me,” Bisping said. “I’ve got a lot of respect for Machida, I really do. As I said on Saturday, he’s one of the true martial arts specialist and one of the true martial artists that competes in the Octagon, so I have respect for him. Of course, there was the whole steroid issue, so I don’t want to rehash Saturday’s show, but there’s always going to be an asterisk over him.”
Bisping also touched on the fight between himself and Rashad Evans that was targeted for UFC Fight Night 127 but didn’t come to fruition.
Bisping appreciated the respectfulness of Machida’s request to fight him. “The Count,” said his he has a mutual admiration for the Brazilian, even if he does have a failed drug test on his resume.
“The Rashad [Evans] fight we spoke about [for my retirement fight] and it didn’t materialize. The Machida fight as well is something that could serve as my last bout. [It’s] very similar to Rashad in many ways, he’s a former champion, had a long career and getting to the final stages of his career. He’s someone I haven’t fought and have a lot of respect for,” he added.
“He’s had a great career and it ticks all the boxes from that standpoint. That’s about it. As of right now I’ve got to speak to the UFC and find out what’s going on for myself. I’m not considering opponents or who they are. I’ve got to speak to Dana and the UFC guys and figure out what’s going on next and in life.”
Bisping is currently on a two-fight losing streak.
Do you think a fight between Lyoto Machida and Michael Bisping is the one to make?
