Michael Bisping announces retirement due to eye problems

Veteran MMA fighter Michael Bisping announced his retirement from the sport on Monday.

The 39-year-old British fighter, who is 30-9 in his career, fought twice in November but has not fought since then.

“Obviously, I’ve teased this for a long time now — I might fight again, I might not,” Bisping said on his “Believe You Me” podcast, according to Bloody Elbow. “Unfortunately, it’s not a fight I’m announcing. I’m going to announce my official retirement from mixed martial arts.”

Bisping said that eye problems were a big reason for his decision. He already had one eye with permanent damage, and after his most recent fight — a loss to Kevin Gastelum — he began seeing flashes out of his left eye. He had his eye checked and was told he has a vitreous detachment.

“It ain’t worth it,” Bisping said. “What else am I gonna do? I won the belt, I’ve had tons of wins, I’ve done everything that I set out to do. Fortunately now, I’ve used my platform to open other doors.”

During his impressive career, Bisping fought and beat many of the best middleweights of the past 10 years, including Anderson Silva, Dan Henderson and Luke Rockhold.