It was definitely not the news Michael Bisping was hoping to hear this week, but a detached retina that has continued to give the British fighter trouble has now forced him to drop out of his scheduled fight at UFC Fight Night 30 against Mark Munoz.
Bisping first dealt with the injury earlier this year after his win over Alan Belcher at UFC 159 in April.
The belief was that the eye was healed and ready to go, but another setback happened to Bisping during training, while getting ready for Munoz, and he was forced to visit his doctor again where he was given the diagnosis.
According to Bisping’s management team at Paradigm Sports Management, who spoke to Bleacher Report on Friday evening, the British fighter already had the necessary corrective eye surgery on Thursday and will now begin his rest and rehabilitation.
Bisping is expected to have no contact whatsoever on the eye for the approximately the next three months, and then they hope he can return to full sparring and a fight in four to six months.
The timelines are obviously estimates based on the surgery and typical recovery time, but Bisping could potentially return sooner or later depending on how he heals up.
The British fighter was returning home to fight in England for the first time since 2010 when he defeated Yoshihiro Akiyama in the main event at UFC 120.
The injury also sidelines Bisping’s title hopes, which he’s been pursuing for several years, but hoped to jump back into the deep end of the contender’s race with a win over Munoz in October.
Always a very active competitor, Bisping will likely be gunning to come back and face a top middleweight upon his return in 2014. Given the current timeline for his injury to heal, he should be able to return in the first quarter of next year.
As for the UFC Fight Night 30 event in England, UFC officials quickly replaced Bisping with former light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida, who now faces Munoz in the main event.
Machida was originally scheduled to fight a week-and-a-half later at the latest installment of the UFC Fight for the Troops show, and now the promotion will have to find a replacement to step in and face his original opponent Tim Kennedy.
Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report.
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