Bisping rules out making excuses after setback: 'GSP was the best and beat me'

Bisping praised GSP after his defeat (Photo: Reproduction/Youtube UFC)

Always very provocative in his interviews, Michael Bisping left, at least for a moment, the character aside after losing the middleweight belt after being submitted by Georges St Pierre in the main attraction of UFC 217, last Saturday (04), in New York (USA). Respectfully, the Englishman avoided making excuses for the setback and praised the executioner's strengths.

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“Georges was the best and beat me. I don't want to take away from him, but he wasn't hurting me with any blows, maybe that's why I was so confident. I expected him to use his wrestling on me. He was very strong. I felt good, and even when he took me to the ground I managed to achieve what I wanted, which was to land elbows. Standing up I was fine, but he won, God bless him. Is that so. I wasn't surprised, it was more or less what I expected. He always had good striking, and it didn't surprise me, except when he landed a left hook that knocked me down. This was a big surprise. (…) I was confident inside. He got me, it's simple. He did a good job. To be honest, he has a good chin. I shook him, but he recovered well. When you’ve been in this sport as long as he and I have, you know how to handle moments like these,” said Bisping at the post-event press conference.

In recent weeks, Bisping had raised the possibility of hanging up his gloves after the fight. When asked about the matter, the Englishman promptly ruled out retirement, guaranteeing that he would be ready to fight again soon, preferably on the fight card. UFC London, in England, in March of next year.

“I don’t need time off, I haven’t had any injuries. I am fine. I only had a few scratches on my face. Maybe I can fight in London in March if I'm free. I don't want the image of the last time I fought to be me being strangled. I want to come back and fight one more time. I don't know if I'm going to be the protagonist, because I just got deleted, but I love what I do. I was born in a small town in the northwest of England and I never thought I would star in an event at Madison Square Garden. It wasn't my night, but that's how it works in professional sports: one man or team wins, and one man or team loses. Today I lost”, concluded the now former champion.