UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping will have surgery to repair minor damage to his knee, putting his next title defence on hold.

“I actually found out just recently I’ve got to have a knee surgery,” Bisping said to the Fight Network. “Nothing major, just a clean up. I’ve got a slightly torn meniscus, a couple other things going on in there so I’ve got to get that knee surgery taken care of. We scheduled that and I should be having that in the next couple of weeks.  Get that taken care of and I’ll probably be defending the belt around May.”

If the champion does return to the Octagon in May, it will be seven months since his first title defence, a unanimous decision victory over Dan Henderson at UFC 204.

That defence is expected to be against Yoel Romero, whose last victory was a spectacular KO victory over former champion Chris Weidman via flying knee at UFC 205.

After news of Bisping’s surgery came out, Romero posted on Twitter that he isn’t interested in a fight to stay active; he’s waiting for a shot at the champion.