Defeated Bisping still plans last fight
MICHAEL Bisping insists he will still have one more fight despite his knockout loss to Kelvin Gastelum on Saturday.
The Manchester mixed martial artist was emphatically stopped by Gastelum in the first round of their fight in Shanghai, China.
Bisping had taken the fight on short notice, just three weeks after losing his UFC middleweight title to Georges St-Pierre in New York.
Many observers were worried that Bisping was taking the fight so soon after the defeat to St-Pierre, and it has proved to be a valid concern after the knockout loss.
Before the fight, Bisping announced he planned on retiring from the sport in London in March, and even though he lost by knockout, he says his plans haven’t changed.
“Kelvin’s a great guy, but unfortunately, it’s going to take more than that to get rid of me,” he said.
“I was enjoying myself. He caught me with a good shot.
“Fair play to Kelvin. He’s young. I’ve been doing this for a long time and I’m getting old.”
Gastelum paid tribute to Bisping after the fight, but revealed he had been practicing his knockout punch.
“This is the biggest win in my career. I have a huge amount of respect for Bisping,” he said.
“We trained that punch. He throws a mean left hook and an awesome straight right, so that’s something we worked on a lot.”