MICHAEL Bisping was in fiesty form as he faced off with old rival Dan Henderson at the UFC 204 ceremonial weigh-ins in Manchester on Friday evening.
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Winning by unanimous decision after five brutal rounds, Bisping got revenge on Henderson for a massive knockout way back at UFC 100. “He doesn’t wrestle anymore. You know what this guy can do to you”. Bisping landed more volume, but Henderson kept things interesting with the more powerful strikes at times. “I got the takedown, landed some decent shots on him, honestly I didn’t feel hurt once in the whole fight from anything, with the exception of one leg kick that hurt my thigh a little”.
The 37-year-old Bisping grew into a successful broadcaster and actor even before he upset Rockhold to claim the belt, but he remains one of mixed martial arts’ most polarizing fighters. “I’m real frustrated but I have to go home and look at it [again]”.
But after closing that chapter of his career, Bisping added: ” Now I look forward to the next one.
Bisping’s heart was on display inside the Manchester Arena, having to rebound from being dropped in the opening stanza.
“Obviously by looking at him, he felt some of the shots that I hit him with”, Henderson said.
A bloodied Bisping rallied back and got the 21,000 fans off their feet with a resurgent start to the second round, using effective striking to keep his opponent at bay. As the younger fighter, he should have an edge in stamina against Henderson. The opportunity to author a fairytale conclusion to an wonderful career by capturing a UFC title in his farewell fight was only hours away, while a hostile Manchester crowd was baying for his demise, but neither of those things seemed to faze “Hendo”.
The first round was mostly a feeling out process before Henderson’s big land, aka an ‘H-Bomb, ‘ connected to Bisping’s chin.
But the Clitheroe man survived the ground-and-pound of Henderson to make it out of the round with just a badly swollen left eye. I came up a little short. And I thought, ‘Wow, does that mean that I’m Ricky Hatton?’ And then of course the tickets sold out in six minutes which blew me away, and brought a lot of nerves.
“Worst KO in UFC history”.
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English veteran Bisping is now 31-7-0, while Henderson is 32-15-0 after what could be the last fight of his career. “Thank you to the fans for making this fight happen and thank you to Michael Bisping for giving me this opportunity”. There’s no other sport that other professional athletes respect more than MMA fighters.
