Michael Bisping reveals he nearly went fully blind following Kelvin Gastelum fight

Michael Bisping regrets taking the Kelvin Gastelum fight just weeks after losing to Georges St-Pierre.

The former UFC middleweight champion says he overtrained for the St-Pierre fight and after he got choked out he got a quick return. Anderson Silva was out of his scrap against Gastelum and Bisping would be stepping in on short notice.

Yet, the fight did not go his way as he was knocked out cold. The Englishman would retire shortly after. Although the loss stung, what was worse is Bisping reveals he nearly went fully blind because of the fight.

“I fight Georges St-Pierre, I lose that fight, and he knew I was blind in one eye – he targeted it,” Michael Bisping said to Submission Radio (via MMAFighting). “Then, I fly to Shanghai, couple of weeks later I fight Kelvin Gastelum, I get cracked, I think I’ve had a good run and that was that.

“And then we go to an after-party afterward. I’m sitting there in this club, and every time I look this way, I get a flash of light. I was like, what was that? So I look again, another flash of light,” Bisping continued. “And every time I look to the left, I would get a flash of light. I started panicking because I’m thinking, holy s*it, I don’t believe this, I’ve got a detached retina in my good eye. And I started getting emotional, in a night club. I’ve had a couple of drinks, but I’m like, f*ck, I’m thinking I’m gonna go blind.

“It’s a long flight back to [Los Angeles], and I wake up halfway through and I look to my left, and there’s that flashing light. Holy sh*t, I’ve forgotten all about that,” he added. “So when I land, I call my eye doctor straight away, and he’s like, yeah, you need to go see someone. I go in there — and whenever I’m uncomfortable, I always use humor as kind of like a mask.

“I went in and I see this doctor and I say, Listen, doc, I think I’ve got a detached retina in my good eye. And he said, alright, well, let’s take a look, I’m gonna put some drops in you’re not gonna be able to see for a while,” Michael Bisping concluded. “I make a joke, I say, oh well, I guess I better get used to this view, eh? He says, calm down, we’re not there just yet. I was like, we’re not f*cking there just yet? Jesus Christ. I was freaking out. And anyway, turns out I had a vitreous detachment.”

In the end, Michael Bisping says the Gastelum fight was a mistake and one he shouldn’t have taken. But, he was doing the UFC favor and it nearly cost him his vision.

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This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 4/16/2020.