Michael Bisping agrees to fight Kelvin Gastelum at UFC-Shanghai just 3 weeks after title loss

Michael Bisping isn’t wasting any time trying to erase memories of his UFC middleweight title loss to Georges St-Pierre.

In a stunning turn of events, Bisping (30-8 MMA, 20-8 UFC) will make a 21-day turnaround from his UFC 217 loss after agreeing to fight Kelvin Gastelum (13-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) in the UFC Fight Night 122 headliner, which takes place Nov. 26 at Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai. The event streams on UFC Fight Pass.

A person with knowledge of the situation confirmed the news to MMAjunkie, which was first reported by MMAFighting.com. The person requested anonymity because an announcement has yet to be made.

UFC Fight Night 122 lost its original main event on Friday when news broke that former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva had been flagged with a potential U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) violation. Bisping comes in as the replacement just three weeks after his third-round submission loss to St-Pierre at UFC 217.

“The Count” was given a 30-day medical suspension from the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) for his defeat, but that period can be waived with a doctor’s clearance.

Bisping will set a new record for most fights in UFC history when he makes his 29th trip to the octagon at UFC Fight Night 122.

The latest UFC Fight Night 122 card now includes:

• Michael Bisping vs. Kelvin Gastelum
• Li Jingliang vs. Zak Ottow
• Alex Caceres vs. Wang Guan
• Alex Garcia vs. Muslim Salikhov
• Zabit Magomedsharipov vs. Sheymon Moraes
• Bobby Nash vs. Kenan Song
• Kailin Curran vs. Yan Xiaonan
• Bharat Khandare vs. Pingyuan Liu
• Shamil Abdurakhimov vs. Chase Sherman
• Gina Mazany vs. Yanan Wu
• Wuliji Buren vs. Rolando Dy
• Cyril Asker vs. James Mulheron

For more on UFC Fight Night 122, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.