UFC News: GSP's Manager Says He May Retire, Bisping Cleared And Talks Next Opponent, Nogueiras

- It looks like it's good news for Michael "The Count" Bisping. Bisping suffered a detached retina not long ago that forced him out of an October bout with Mark Munoz. Though his prognosis was dicey at first, it appears that the number four ranked middleweight will be well enough to return to action by early Spring.

"I was at the doctor's this morning — if people don't know, I had a detached retina — they've given me the green light to start proper training again," Bisping said in a recent appearance on UFC Tonight, which you can watch above. "I've been running and lifting weights for awhile. Now I can get back in the MMA gym and start working on a few things. He actually said, 'Call the UFC and book a fight. You'll definitely be able to fight around March or April next year.'"

In regards to a possible opponent, Bisping isn't picky. As long as it gets him closer to a title shot, he'll take on all comers.

"Who do I want to fight? I want to fight the guy with the belt, I want to fight Weidman; of course I do," he said. "That ain't gonna happen anytime soon, I'm assuming. Jacare (Souza), (Lyoto) Machida, either one of those guys. If Tim Kennedy wants it, then so be it, he can have it."

Bisping last appeared in action at UFC 159 in April, where he took a technical decision over Alan Belcher after ending the action early with an eyepoke.

- It's been over a week since Georges St-Pierre's cryptic retirement following his controversial UFC 167 win over Johny Hendricks and we still aren't sure if the champ will be returning to the cage again. To hear the UFC tell it, a rematch between St-Pierre and Hendricks is all but finalized. On the other hand, you have St-Pierre's camp, who've continuously made it sound as though St-Pierre intends to stay retired.

According to a report by Ariel Helwani for UFC Tonight, St-Pierre's manager, Rodolphe Beaulieu, believes that we may have seen the last of his client. Beaulieu reportedly said that St-Pierre believes he deserved his win over Hendricks. Apparently, as inconclusive as St-Pierre's in-cage retirement was, he intends to stick to his guns and follow through on it. What exactly that means may become more clear soon, as Beaulieu said he will be discussing St-Pierre's next step within a month or so.

- On their road to MMA legend territory, brothers Antonio Rodrigo and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira have accrued their share of damage. Neither of the pair has appeared in action more than once over the past year and both of them have been forced to delay training camps and pull out of bouts frequently due to injuries.

However, according to their manager, Ed Soares (who spoke recently with MMAJunkie), both Nogueiras will be returning to the cage in 2014.

Though Fabricio Werdum damaged the same arm this past June that Frank Mir mangled a little over a year ago, Rodrigo is apparently recovering well enough to return to action "in the first half of 2014, for sure," according to Soares.

Rogerio, dealing with a persistent back injury, will take a bit longer to get back to full health. Soares said that he'll "stick to physical therapy, get healthy and he'll probably be fighting in May or June."

Rogerio is riding a two-fight winning streak featuring victories over Tito Ortiz and Rashad Evans. Rodrigo, on the other hand, is coming off of a submission loss to Fabricio Werdum and has been unable to string more than one win together in his last eight fights.

Comments

Recommended