The UFC was put in a tough spot when Anderson Silva was pulled out of UFC Fight Night 122’s main event due to a failed drug test. That being said, on just two weeks notice, former middleweight champion Michael Bisping picked up the replacement spot to everyone’s surprise.
Bisping suffered a title ending loss to Georges St-Pierre at UFC 217 on Nov. 4. That in mind, “The Count” is looking to get back into the winning column as quickly as possible. Speaking to Flo Combat, Bisping revealed that he reached out to UFC President Dana White for the fight opportunity.
“I can’t see how I cannot take this fight. I’m serious because the homework is done. I’ve got no injuries. I like to fight, and I’ve got a bad taste in my mouth from my last performance. That’s what’s bothering me. The UFC head of legal, Hunter Campbell, he was checking ‘Are you OK, are you OK?’ and physically I’m fine. Mentally, I’m very frustrated.
“So this gives me a chance to exorcise my demons and get some decent mental space back. Physically, I’m totally fine. Mentally, I’m pissed off. So for me it’s almost a gift from the gods.”
“I text him saying ‘I see that Gastelum needs an opponent’ and that I know a guy that fought last week that has no injuries,” Bisping revealed. “He texts back, ‘interesting,’ and I said, ‘very.’ Then he called me. Obviously he was concerned that I had no injuries or anything like that. I had to do some medical tests or whatever, and when he was satisfied he was like, ‘Cool let’s do it.’
“He was over the moon. He couldn’t believe it.”
Michael Bisping doubled down on his health, claiming he is not injured from his match up against St-Pierre.
“Physically, I’m totally fine. My face was a little bruised up for a few days but I’m totally fine now. That’s about it. My right hand is sore where I landed a couple good punches on him but that’s about it. I’ve had a week off and all I’ve done for the last week is eat and drink. I’m still doing that now. I’m starting Monday. I mean, realistically, how much weight can you put on in one week? I’ve got two weeks until I weigh in, so the damage I’ve done in a week hopefully can be undone in two weeks. I think that logic should stack up.
“At the end of the day, I respect Kelvin. He’s a great fighter, but it’s nothing about Kelvin. I just, for me, obviously I was upset about how the fight went, and I’ve been a bit depressed and this came up and the best way to get rid of that is to just get right back in there.”
Michael Bisping will go face-to-face with Kelvin Gastelum in the main event of UFC Fight Night 122 on Nov. 25. The event will be the UFC’s debut in Shanghai, China.
