Approaching five years of retirement since his most recent UFC outing – former promotional middleweight champion and now-color commentator, Michael Bisping insists he is overly happy with retired life away from the sport, but admits that he is tempted to take a professional boxing match against Jake Paul if the latter is actually serious about sharing the squared circle with him.
Michael Bisping, who turned 43-years-old back in February, called time on his career back in 2018 officially, following a quickfire first round knockout loss to Kelvin Gastelum the November prior in a short notice UFC Fight Night Shanghai turnaround.
In the time since, Bisping, the first UFC champion from the United Kingdom, has been inducted into the promotion’s Hall of Fame – and has turned his hand to both analyst work and commentary work for the organization – serving in the commentary booth on color duties.
Michael Bisping was recently the subject of a call out from Jake Paul
Calling time on his career following medical advice after suffering from issues with his other eye after requiring a glass insertion after he had suffered a detached retina against Vitor Belfort, Bisping has been the subject of a recent call out by the aforenoted, polarizing, Paul – who listed the Manchester favorite on a list including former world champions, Floyd Mayweather, and Oscar De La Hoya.
Engaging in a back-and-forth on Twitter over the course of the weekend, Bisping has since spoken about a potential fight with Paul on his YouTube channel.
“I’m happily retired,” Michael Bisping said. “I’m very, very happily retired. But I do miss the thrill of competition. And I don’t see Jake Paul as necessarily a threat. I retired from fighting because I only have one eye. I didn’t want to risk my other eye. In boxing, bigger gloves, against Jake Paul. As I say, I don’t really see him as a threat. Jake Paul, beating you up sounds like fun.”
“This fight’s never gonna happen, but I’ll tell you what?” Michael Bisping said. “Jake, if you’re watching, if you wanna throw down, if you wanna step in the squared circle with me, I’ll oblige. I will do it, it sounds like fun. It gives me a reason to train, get in shape.”
Bisping then insisted that on one hand he was joking about accepting the fight with Paul – but on the other hand, he was seriously considering it.
“Am I joking? A little bit,” Michael Bisping said. “Am I serious? Maybe a little bit. If you are serious, if you wanna do it, send an email. You’ve done it once before. Tell your manager to send me an email. Listen, mate. You’re a young man, you’re in your prime. Fight a young man in your prime. You wanna fight a 43-year-old with one eye and no knees, hey, buddy, let’s go. Send location. Send a contract. Send something, rather than just talking on Teddy Atlas’ podcast.” (Transcribed by BloodyElbow)
In his most recent victory, the undefeated, Paul stopped former undisputed UFC welterweight champion, Tyron Woodley with an eventual sixth round one-punch knockout last December in the pair’s rematch.