Michael Bisping has a date and location for his retirement fight.

Former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva was pulled from his bout against Kelvin Gastelum at the upcoming event after he was flagged due to a potential U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) violation.

The promotion then was searching to find a replacement for Silva, and they found the former UFC middleweight champion.

There are some questions regarding if a three-week turnaround will be too much for Bisping. This bout will mean that Bisping is fighting on two different continents in two UFC main events in just a 21-day span.

UFC Fight Night 122 is set to take place on November 25, 2017, at Mercedes Benz Arena in Shanghai, China. The main card will air on the promotion’s streaming service, UFC Fight Pass, while the preliminary card will also air on Fight Pass.

Bisping lost in the main event of the UFC 217 PPV (pay-per-view) event on November 4th in New York at Madison Square Garden to former UFC welterweight champion and current middleweight champion Georges St-Pierre by submission. However, he is continuing with his pro-MMA career.

Bisping spoke with Ariel Helwani on a recent episode of the MMA Hour, and during the interview, he stated that he feels 100% fine physically after his recent bout. Even though he received a provisional suspension by the New York State Athletic Commission, he has since passed the necessary medical tests to be cleared to compete again.

He has started thinking about hanging up his gloves and ending his career again. Either way, he will at least have one more fight after UFC Fight Night 122 and would love to have his final fight take place at UFC London on March 17th (transcript via MMA Fighting).

“Again, I have nothing against China,” Bisping said, after Helwani posited that it didn’t make sense for the ‘Count’ to retire in Shanghai, “they are a lovely race of people. I have never been to China, why is my retirement fight going to be in China?


“There’s a fight card on in London. I would love to be on that. I would love to be a part of that to say thank you to the British people who supported me and have my last fight there. I definitely want my last fight to be in England. I’ve always wanted my last fight to be in England.”