Kelvin Gastelum
Kelvin Gastelum (R) in action against former champion Chris Weidman Getty

KEY POINTS

  • Bisping is set for a quick turnaround and will face Gastelum in the main event in Shanghai.
  • The Briton most recently lost his UFC middleweight title to St-Pierre.
  • The event will be the UFC's debut show in the Pearl of the Orient.

Michael Bisping's coach believes the Briton is in store for a tougher fight on the feet against UFC Shanghai opponent Kelvin Gastelum as compared to Georges St-Pierre.

Bisping will remarkably fight just three weeks after losing his middleweight title to St-Pierre at UFC 217 on 4 November, receiving plenty of plaudits in the process.

Gastelum was due to face another former champion in Anderson Silva, however, "The Spider" had to pull out after failing an anti-doping drug test, making it the second time a fight between the duo has been called off.

Instead, the young Mexican-American will face Bisping, where a win could see him skyrocket all the way to the top three of the UFC middleweight rankings.

Bisping's coach Jason Parillo believes "KG" will prove to be a tougher task for the 38-year-old as compared to "GSP", particularly when it comes to stand-up fighting.

"Really, Kelvin is, in my opinion, on the feet, a tougher fight than Georges St-Pierre," Parillo told ESPN's Five Rounds podcast.

"It's not like Mike's a guy that shoots and wrestles all the time, so obviously it's gonna be a lot of stand-up fighting and this guy's a bigger threat than I think that even Georges was."

Bisping revealed that he was mentally affected by the way he lost to St-Pierre, stating it as the reason why he is fighting so soon after his last match.

Parillo adds that while there are question marks over his mental state, he is confident that Bisping will dust off his last loss and leave Shanghai with a win.

"Mike is a world champion and he can fight any guy on the planet," he added. "Is there a question about how he's gonna be mentally with how close this fight is? Sure, there could be.

"But I have a feeling Mike's head is gonna be right in this fight and it's something that he really wants to do, go out there and win and try to dust off his last loss.

"We're going in. We're gonna go in regardless of whether I have concerns or don't have concerns. We're gonna go in and we're gonna go in there to win."

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