If you like finishes, UFC 204 was the event for you. Only two fights went to decision in front of a raucous crowd in Manchester, England, which was headlined by Michael Bisping, who successfully defending his middleweight title against Dan Henderson.
Of the two fights that went to decision, the unanimous-decision victory for The Count was easily the best fight of the night.
Bisping ultimately prevailed thanks to consistent volume throughout the five rounds, but it didn’t come without difficulty. Henderson came prepared to go out on his shield in his retirement fight and nearly ended Bisping‘s night twice with overhand rights.
The UFC tweeted out the highlight of the H-bomb in the second round:
Bisping‘s cardio is well-known, and it came in handy against the power of Henderson. According to Michael Carroll of FightMetric, Bisping set a new mark in the area:
After the bout, Henderson confirmed once again that he would be retiring at 46 years old, per MMA Fighting:
Although he came up short, Henderson’s final fight could be described how most of his fights could be described: enthralling. The anticipation that he was going to turn out Bisping‘s lights was still there after fighting for nearly 20 years.
Bisping‘s ability to overcome that with his own brand of fighting and Henderson’s willingness to keep coming forward combined to make a memorable fight.
The middleweight championship fight was just one of many fights that saw an exciting conclusion. Here’s a look at the complete list of results along with a closer look at each of the main card bouts.
UFC 204 Main Card Results
- Michael Bisping defeats Dan Henderson by unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 49-46)
- Gegard Mousasi defeats Vitor Belfort by TKO at 2:43 of the second round
- Jimi Manuwa defeats Ovince Saint Preux by KO at 2:38 of the second round
- Stefan Struve defeats Daniel Omielanczuk via submission (d’arce choke) at 1:41 of the second round
- Mirsad Bektic defeats Russell Doane via submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:22 of the first round
UFC 204 Preliminary Results
- Iuri Alcantara defeats Brad Pickett via submission (triangle choke) at 1:59 of the first round
- Damian Stasiak defeats Davey Grant via submission (armbar) at 3:56 of the third round
- Leon Edwards defeats Albert Tumenov via submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:01 of the third round
- Marc Diakiese defeats Lukasz Sajewski by TKO at 4:40 of the second round
- Mike Perry defeats Danny Roberts by KO at 4:40 of the third round
- Leonardo Santos defeats Adriano Martins by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Vitor Belfort vs. Gegard Mousasi
Gegard Mousasi used UFC 204 as a platform to put his full potential on display.
The Dutchman put on a near-perfect performance against Vitor Belfort and ended it with a second-round TKO victory.
The Phenom is infamous for being dangerous in the first round. After all, he has the most first-round wins in UFC history. Mousasi countered that trend by pushing the pace in the first round in a way that suffocated Belfort‘s early blitzes.
Once in the second round, Mousasi turned on the gas and opened up his striking. A devastating head kick changed the trajectory of the fight, and Belfort offered little resistance to Mousasi getting the fight to the ground and finishing with ground-and-pound.
After beating the No. 5 middleweight in Belfort, Mousasi made a wise decision and threw out Anderson Silva as a possible opponent, per Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting:
With a win on one of the biggest cards of the year in UFC 200 and now a top-five win, everything is coming up Mousasi in 2016. A win over Silva would likely be enough to get him right in the mix at 185 pounds.
Ovince Saint Preux vs. Jimi Manuwa
Jimi Manuwa is officially back.
That’s the statement he made with a powerful knockout of Ovince Saint Preux in light heavyweight action.
The fight was a matchup of light heavyweights who recently lost to elite competition the last time out. Manuwa was making his return to the cage for the first time since losing to Anthony “Rumble” Johnson in September 2015.
Manuwa came out looking to grapple in the first round, which netted mixed results as OSP took the first round with more crisp striking.
However, that pattern didn’t hold as the fight went to the second round. Leg kicks from the Brit seemed to slow down Saint Preux, and Manuwa landed a big right hand that folded his opponent.
Helwani put the win in perspective:
Despite the layoff of more than a year, Manuwa came into this fight as the No. 8 fighter in the light heavyweight division. Take into consideration that he just beat No. 5 OSP, and No. 7 Rashad Evans is making his middleweight debut at UFC 205, it would appear he’s headed for a top-five spot with the impressive win.
Stefan Struve vs. Daniel Omielanczuk
The submissions just kept rolling in at UFC 204 when Stefan Struve successfully ended his fight against Daniel Omielanczuk with a D’Arce choke in the second round.
The win made it five submissions in a row on the night, but Struve‘s might have been the least surprising. As Mike Bohn of MMAjunkie noted, only Frank Mir has more submissions than Struve in the heavyweight division.
Struve also reminded the crowd that he has a TKO win over current champion Stipe Miocic in his post-fight interview, per MMA Fighting:
Ultimately, this win was a fun one to watch, but it doesn’t say much about Struve‘s prospects as a heavyweight contender. The 28-year-old has put together wins against Antonio Silva and Omielanczuk now, but after the loss to Jared Rosholt, he has never seemed to be able to put it together consistently enough to make a run.
A top-10 opponent is likely on the horizon after dominating this fight on the ground, but until he’s able to leverage his nearly seven-foot frame in the striking game, he’s unlikely to make the next step as a legitimate contender.
Mirsad Bektic vs. Russell Doane
Of all the fighters on this card who have never held a UFC belt, Mirsad Bektic might be the most likely one to eventually be a champion on this card.
The Bosnian fighter took his record to a perfect 11-0 with a dominant first-round submission victory over Russell Doane to kick off the main card.
Bektic‘s victory brought an end to a layoff that extended to around a year-and-a-half due to injuries, including an ACL tear. Whether he would return as impressively as he looked before his injury was one of the most interesting storylines heading into UFC 204.
As it turns out, the answer was a resounding yes.
Patrick Wyman of Bleacher Report noted he even seemed to improve his grappling in addition to looking just as good as he was pre-injury.
On a night marked by performances from some of the elder statesmen of the game, the 25-year-old Bektic stood out as a guy to watch for in the future.
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