Michael Bisping, just three weeks removed from losing his UFC middleweight title to Georges St. Pierre, fights Kelvin Gastelum in Shanghai on November 25—and he can thank old nemesis Anderson Silva for the opportunity.
“Well, it completely destroys his legacy in my opinion,” Bisping said of the alleged doping violation that removed Silva from the Gastelum fight.
The 30-8 Brit endured tough losses to several fighters linked to performance-enhancing drugs, some permissible at the time and some not, throughout his career. Once the UFC imposed a stricter anti-doping regimen, Bisping fought in the middleweight division’s elite rather than as a gatekeeper. Through his brash style, on display on Wednesday’s conference call as he insulted journalists asking questions he found lacking and complained of a buzzing sound, Bisping has been one of the sport’s most outspoken voices against drug cheats.
“Once, you can try to talk your way out of it,” the former middleweight champion said on the UFC conference call on Wednesday. “Twice is the nail in the coffin. The guy was a cheat.”
“He definitely tarnished his legacy with this,” concurred the 26-year-old Gastelum, who twice missed opportunities to fight Silva.
“It’s not like I dislike Anderson or like him,” Gastelum explained. “I feel indifferent about him. It was not surprising he got caught.”
Gastelum regards a fight with Bisping, who defeated Silva, Luke Rockhold, and Dan Henderson before succumbing to St. Pierre’s choke earlier this month, as a step up in competition.
“I only feel it’s an advantage career-wise, Mike is obviously a former champion and highly ranked,” Gastelum noted on the conference call. “This is a great move for my career.”
Bisping’s biggest career victory, over middleweight champion Luke Rockhold, similarly came with less than three-weeks notice. The 38-year-old Bisping, seeking to escape the bad feelings from his recent loss with a euphoric win, says he feels “A-OK” and “100 percent” physically despite so recently going nearly three rounds with arguably the greatest mixed-martial artist in the sport’s short history.
“Some people play the piano,” he explained. “Some people like to fight. I like to fight.”
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