Michael Bisping Is Open to Retirement Fight Against Lyoto Machida

Michael Bisping spoke on his Believe You Me podcast about being called out by Lyoto Machida. Some highlights are below:

On Machida calling him out: “He’s had a great career, and it ticks all the boxes (for my retirement fight) from that standpoint. That’s about it. As of right now, I’ve got to speak to the UFC and find out what’s going on for myself. I’m not considering opponents or who they are. I’ve got to speak to (UFC President) Dana (White) and the UFC guys and figure out what’s going on next and in life.”

On his admiration of Machida: “He just said we were supposed to fight a couple of times over the years and that it hadn’t happened and that basically he had a lot of respect for me. I’ve got a lot of respect for Machida, I really do. He’s one of the true martial arts specialists and one of the true martial artists that competes in the octagon, so I have respect for him. Of course, there was the whole steroid issue, … there’s always going to be an asterisk over him…I’ve (got) no problem with the decision, but what I do have a problem with is what Machida said afterwards. I’m only joking, I don’t really have a problem with it; he called me out once again.”

On a fight with Rashad Evans not happening: “The Rashad fight we spoke about, and it didn’t materialize. The Machida fight, as well, is something that could serve as my last bout. (The fight is) very similar to Rashad in many ways: He’s a former champion, had a long career and getting to the final stages of his career. He’s someone I haven’t fought and have a lot of respect for.”