Trading Shots: How will we remember Michael Bisping once he's gone?

After a loss at UFC Fight Night 122 in Shanghai, Michael Bisping said he still plans to fight one more time and then call it quits. But how will we remember him once he’s gone? And what are the odds he changes his mind about leaving when the time comes? Former UFC and WEC fighter Danny Downes joins MMAjunkie columnist Ben Fowlkes to discuss in this week’s Trading Shots.

Downes: Ben, while you were out this week trying to unionize the Turkey Bowl participants or reminding your relatives there was no pumpkin pie at the first Thanksgiving, Michael Bisping was preparing for a fight. The former champ returned on short notice to fight Kelvin Gastelum and wound up losing by first-round knockout.

You’ve already discussed the wisdom of creating this fight, so I’m not interested in hearing you regurgitate the same talking points. Instead, I want to look at the big picture.

Where do we place Bisping in the pantheon of MMA fighters? He achieved his goal of a UFC title late in his career, but many consider that a fluke. His only title defense was against Dan Henderson, who was not exactly a top contender at the time. He then lost his title to Georges St-Pierre, a career welterweight. Now, he’s been knocked out by a fighter who, as Chris Weidman correctly pointed out, is probably too small for the division.

Will people look fondly on “The Count’s” career once he decides to hang the gloves up? He’s made himself wealthy by making people hate him, but does that mean fans will never be able to truly appreciate him?

Fowlkes: I suspect that it might be easier for fans to appreciate Bisping once he’s gone. It’s not just fans, either. I think even some of his peers will have an easier time admitting that he was actually a good fighter once he’s not in their faces insisting on it so regularly.

He’s had a hell of a career, when you think about it. At one point he had the sole record for total UFC wins. He claimed the UFC middleweight title extremely late in his career (and right when USADA got involved). He’s beaten some greats, and he always answered the call to fight (though with a little more frequency when he didn’t have the title).

But more than anything, I think he’ll be remembered as one of the great overachievers in MMA history. How else did a guy like him – someone who’s not a knockout artist, not a submissions expert, not a powerhouse wrestler or ground-and-pound grinder – win so many freaking fights?!

He did it with the force of his will and his cardio and his all-around game and his willingness to suffer for his art, when necessary.

What I can’t help but wonder now, especially after this most recent loss, is whether he’s going to end up paying a heavy price for all that years down the road. Two fights in three weeks when you’re 38? Plus another one in a few months, added to the damage he’s already taken? Am I the only one a little worried about the consequences of all that?

Downes: There’s this narrative out there that MMA fighters are short-sighted and don’t see the big picture. Additionally, there’s the idea that they lack the intelligence to understand the ramifications of their decisions.

We run through this every time we’re eager to push an aging fighter out the door. There’s this odd paternal tendency among fans and media who assume they know better than the fighters themselves. I get it to a certain extent, but how come these same people don’t apply this criteria to their own lives?

I understand why you’d ask about the long-term consequences of his choices, but I wonder how much you use this decades-long cause-and-effect analysis in your own life. Do you wonder about the consequences in 2039 about the hamburger you ate this week? Did you know that the average lifespan of a Labrador is 10-14 years? In that case, why even have a dog? You have two daughters. What about the sea levels when they’re nearing retirement?!?

Bisping is no Shinryu Suzuki, but maybe, just maybe, he was living for the moment. He may have done it for the money. He may have done it because he was mad about the “GSP” fight. He may have done it because he always wanted to visit Shanghai. Whatever the motivation, it doesn’t matter.

He didn’t care about the nebulous idea of “legacy,” and I think that’s something to applaud. Worrying about your legacy as a fighter is like worrying about your Instagram posts on a family vacation. You’re spending too much time focusing on a tangential, unnecessary thing that it detracts from the moment at hand. My son’s first steps aren’t caught on video. I also didn’t miss them with my face behind an iPhone.

People will debate Bisping’s place among the UFC greats. They might detract from his title reign and career in general. People on Twitter will send him a GIF of Dan Henderson dropping that UFC 100 forearm every day of his life. At the end of the day, though, it doesn’t really matter. Whether you were rooting for his downfall or triumph, he’s entertained us for over a decade. Can you fit that on a win/loss record?

Fowlkes: Did you seriously just compare eating a hamburger to staying too long in an inherently violent sport that can leave people permanently brain damaged? I guess you did. I guess you also compared fighting in MMA to climate change, so at least we’re keeping it all in perspective.

Bisping became a fighter because he loved it, sure, but also because he hoped to make money at it, which he has. He also held out for the “GSP” fight not just because he wanted to face an MMA legend, but because he wanted to ensure his family’s financial future.

What I’m saying is, what good is all that money if you stick around too long and break your brain? Look at the NFL players who have retired with money and business interests, only to meet with a bad end a few years later because of symptoms of chronic traumatic encephalopathy? And it’s not just the brain that’s at risk.

This sport is a health gamble every single time you get in that cage. There has to be a point where you’re better off pushing away from the table. There has to be a point where the payoff no longer justifies the risks.

You say legacy doesn’t matter to Bisping (though, the way he was just talking about Silva’s legacy after that second failed drug test suggests that it’s at least on his mind), but enjoying his retirement in one piece surely matters.

As for how we view him once he’s gone, I don’t think there’s that much riding on this one last fight he says he wants in March. Hopefully the UFC gives him someone around his age, someone who’s not actually a title contender, and hopefully – win or lose – he sticks to his plan to retire once it’s over.

His legacy as a tough, fiery competitor who loved to fight and made the most of the talent he had? That’s mostly set at this point. The only way to screw it up is to add an element of cautionary tale by hanging around too long.

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 122, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

Ben Fowlkes is MMAjunkie and USA TODAY’s MMA columnist. Danny Downes, a retired UFC and WEC fighter, is an MMAjunkie contributor who has also written for UFC.com and UFC 360. Follow them on twitter at @benfowlkesMMA and @dannyboydownes.