Brad Tavares offers to serve as Michael Bisping's final opponent

With former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping (30-9 MMA, 20-9 UFC) planning on one more fight before calling it a career, all that’s left is to pick an opponent and a date.

Fourteen-time UFC veteran Brad Tavares (16-4 MMA, 11-4 UFC) recently took to Twitter to voice his interest in signing up for that assignment.

While Bisping has not been announced for the card, the UFC does return to his native England on March 17 for UFC Fight Night 127 at The O2 in London. “The Count” has made it clear he does intend for his final career fight to take place on English soil.

Tavares is currently ranked No. 15 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA middleweight rankings. He currently owns a three-fight winning streak after earning consecutive decision victories over Thales Leites, Elias Theodorou and Caio Magalhaes.

Tavares today told MMAjunkie that while the March 17 date is just six weeks away, he’d be more than happy to accept a matchup for that date.

Meanwhile, Bisping – who is currently No. 9 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA middleweight rankings – is reeling from a pair of losses suffered in a three-week span of November. First, it was a technical submission loss to Georges St-Pierre at UFC 217, a bout that saw Bisping cede the UFC middleweight title. Shortly after, he suffered a devastating knockout loss to Kelvin Gastelum.

Bisping, 38, has admitted his career is coming to and end but has expressed interest in one more fight. However, criticism surrounding his quick turnaround from St-Pierre to Gastelum may lead him to favor a little more time off before booking that final bout.

But if not, Tavares says he’s game.

For more on UFC Fight Night 127, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.