Michael Bisping to Undergo Minor Knee Surgery, Planning May UFC Title Defense

It appears as though Michael Bisping won’t be defending his middleweight crown until May at the earliest.

“The Count” revealed during an interview with the Fight Network that he will undergo minor knee surgery soon, and that procedure will keep him out of action until at least late spring. Bisping made his first successful middleweight title defense at UFC 204 this past October, when he took a five-round verdict over Dan Henderson.

“I actually found out just recently I’ve got to have a knee surgery,” Bisping said. “Nothing major, just a clean up. I’ve got a slightly torn meniscus, a couple other things going on in there so I’ve got to get that knee surgery taken care of. We scheduled that and I should be having that in the next couple of weeks.

“Get that taken care of and I’ll probably be defending the belt around May, something like that I would guess.”

Exactly when that next title defense will occur is currently unclear: The UFC has only revealed its 2017 schedule through April at this point in time.

Bisping has already acknowledged that his next title defense will likely come against Yoel Romero, who knocked out Chris Weidman with a flying knee in the third round of their UFC 205 bout on Nov. 12. “The Soldier of God” has won eight straight fights in the Octagon, including other notable triumphs against Ronaldo Souza, Lyoto Machida, Tim Kennedy and Derek Brunson.

Bisping, who claimed middleweight gold with an upset victory over Luke Rockhold at UFC 199, was recently busy with filming for a role in the new action film “xXx: The Return of Xander Cage.” The 37-year-old British fighter has won his last five bouts in the Octagon.