Michael Bisping has been fighting at well less than 100 percent for some time now and he’s been just too stubborn for his own good to get the problem fixed.
In a recent interview with ESPN in England, Bisping revealed that he’s suffering from a nerve problem in his neck that’s causing his right arm to atrophy. That means he’s losing muscle mass and strength because the nerves aren’t allowing proper signal to get to his body.
Bisping admitted at the time that he was looking to have surgery to correct the issue, and immediately the world wanted to know if that meant he would be missing out on his April 27 bout against Alan Belcher at UFC 159.
Bleacher Report spoke with Bisping‘s managers at Paradigm MMA Management on Wednesday and they verified that the British fighter’s surgery is nothing more than a minor outpatient procedure that will allow him to get back into the gym as early as the following day.
Bisping verified the information as well via text message to Bleacher Report and updated the situation via his Twitter account on Wednesday.
“Just to clarify I am not having surgery, my fight with Belcher is not in peril,” wrote Bisping. “I’m having a minor procedure maybe to fix an old problem.”
Bisping later stated that he’s hoping the procedure just involves some injections in his neck to help relieve the pinched nerve that’s causing all of the problems.
UFC welterweight David Mitchell experienced a similar issue in his neck that kept him feeling well less than 100 percent for the last few years of his career. He eventually had corrective surgery to repair the damage and is now working his way back to full strength.
Bisping‘s issue doesn’t seem to be as severe, and the minor procedure he’s undergoing will only help relieve the blockage being caused by the pinched nerve to allow his right arm to regain full feeling and muscle strength.
Bisping expects to have the procedure soon as he gets into full training mode again for his UFC 159 showdown with Alan Belcher on April 27 in New Jersey.
Damon Martin is featured columnist at Bleacher Report.
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