Michael Bisping förlorade sitt mellanviktsbälte mot Georges St-Pierre för några veckor sedan. Trots det tuffa nederlaget valde Bisping att ta en fight med Kelvin Gastelum redan på lördag, som sen ersättare för Anderson Silva.
LÄS MER Michael Bisping förklarar: Därför tog jag matchen mot Kelvin Gastelum
I en exklusiv intervju med MMAnytts Damon Martin berättar nu engelsmannen att han fortfarande inte har sett förlustmatchen mot St-Pierre. Han är ändå övertygad om att han skulle vinna en rematch mot den legendariske kanadensaren:
“Of course, I’m going to say I think I could beat him in a rematch but I really do,” säger Bisping. “I was just starting to settle down but he caught me with a shot and he finished me. Good for him, God bless him. It just makes me mad when I think about it. I felt good. He was super tired, he was exhausted, I did a good job cutting him up and I could get back to my feet whenever I wanted. I think I over stressed the wrestling aspect. The game plan in the first round as I was moving away, that was the plan to just be elusive in the first round. Looking back in hindsight, I shouldn’t have worried about that too much.”
“It is what it is. I felt good, I felt great, I got up whenever I wanted. I landed some good shots. I had him wobbled and I had him hurt but he hit me with that big left hook in the scramble and that was that. He followed up really well. Georges is a great fighter and good for him.”
”Skeppet har seglat”
Den snart 39-årige Bisping medger också att han är nära att gå i pension, med kanske en sista fight i mars – helst av allt i hemlandet. Han erkänner också att möjligheterna till en ny titelchans inte är särskilt stora, men att han är stolt över sin ofta kritiserade tid som mellanviktsmästare.
“I’ll be honest, I would love to try for the title again but I think that ship’s sailed,” säger Bisping . “I think from a mental space I have to be realistic and let that go. Listen, I was world champion, defended it, titles change hands all the time, that’s not something that’s going to last forever. I had it, I’m proud of it. That’s awesome. That’s great.
“Now I’m close to retirement. I’ll probably have one last fight, probably in March, I’d love for my last fight to be in England.”
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