UFC Middleweight Michael Bisping Rushed to the Hospital for Eye Surgery (UPDATE)

Looks like things have gone from bad to worse for perennial UFC middleweight contender Michael Bisping. 

He had to be taken to the hospital on Thursday to get unexpected eye surgery, according to a report by John Joe O'Regan of Fighters Only magazine (h/t MixedMartialArts.com). 

"

I'm staying at Mike's for a few days here in LA. I just got in from visiting Alliance in San Diego and saw his girlfriend; she had just got back from taking him to Pasadena hospital. He's undergoing surgery, his eye was causing him agony apparently.

"

Following his recent win over Alan Belcher at UFC 159 in April, the former The Ultimate Fighter winner needed to have surgery to repair a detached retina in his right eye. 

"The Count" was recently forced to pull out of his UFC Fight Night 30 bout with Mark Munoz due to an eye injury, as per MMA Junkie, and it appears that situation has now taken a turn for the worse. 

Prior to news of this latest surgery, Bisping's management indicated that his latest eye injury would keep him sidelined for another four to six months.

Bisping, the No. 4 middleweight in the world per the UFC's official rankings, has won six of his past eight bouts. 

However, he is just 2-2 in his past four fights, defeating fringe contenders Brian Stann and Alan Belcher and losing title eliminator matchups with Chael Sonnen and Vitor Belfort. 

The English striker, who always seems to catch the attention of fight fans for better or worse, could see his career in serious jeopardy now in light of this latest setback. 

Check back with Bleacher Report for the latest updates on this situation. 

UPDATE: Friday, 11:47 a.m. ET

MMA Fighting's Ariel Helwani says Bisping's manager, Audie Attar, denies that his client had surgery on Thursday: 

"

. @bisping's mgr @audieattar says MB didn't have emergency eye surgery yesterday. He want to the hosp. after feeling pain but no surgery.

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) October 4, 2013"

John Heinis is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA Editor for eDraft.com.