UFC 204 went down in a blaze of excitement last night (Saturday October 8). Headlining the Manchester pay-per-view were fierce rivals Michael Bisping and Dan Henderson. After ‘Hendo’ scored an iconic KO over Bisping at UFC 100, ‘The Count’ ignored rankings in favor of revenge on home soil. Following five hard rounds, Bisping got what he
UFC 204 went down in a blaze of excitement last night (Saturday October 8). Headlining the Manchester pay-per-view were fierce rivals Michael Bisping and Dan Henderson. After ‘Hendo’ scored an iconic KO over Bisping at UFC 100, ‘The Count’ ignored rankings in favor of revenge on home soil. Following five hard rounds, Bisping got what he wanted in the form of a decision win. The UD has been debated though, as some fans feel Henderson had done enough to win.
Scoring knockdowns in the first and second round, Henderson showed age is but a number. Rocking Bisping with his patented right hand, Henderson came within a hair’s breadth of taking the belt. Had he done so, the former two-weight Pride FC champ would have broken a myriad of records. Hats off to both warriors for such a thrilling fight. Looking at the strike stats, Bisping certainly got off the bigger volume of punches. Check them out for yourself:
UFC 204 Strike Stats
Aside from round one, Michael Bisping clearly out-landed Dan Henderson. The question of knockdowns and power over total numbers of strikes landed is once again raised. Were Henderson’s two ‘H-Bomb’ knockdowns worthy of the 10-8 round that rarely gets scored in MMA? The judging patterns in the UFC are highly debated, and most feel they are in need of an overhaul. Here’s a look at the round-by-round strike stats of Bisping vs. Henderson at UFC 204:
Now For The Scorecards
Now we’ve established Michael Bisping landed more punches in more rounds, let’s take a look at the judges scorecards for the UFC 204 main event. Courtesy of MMAFighting.com, here are the official judging sheets from Bisping vs. Henderson 2. The score cards show two rendering 48-47, and one judge calling it 49-46. What are your thoughts on the main event result, and how the judges scored the fight?
During the official UFC 204 Post-Fight Show on FOX Sports 1 on Saturday evening, UFC Bantamweight Champion Dominick Cruz had some interesting comments to make regarding UFC Featherweight Champion Conor McGregor.
Cruz …
https://youtu.be/y41BSxRYrGQ
During the official UFC 204 Post-Fight Show on FOX Sports 1 on Saturday evening, UFC Bantamweight Champion Dominick Cruz had some interesting comments to make regarding UFC Featherweight Champion Conor McGregor.
Cruz was asked by a fan on social media if he were to move up in weight in the UFC, would “The Notorious” one, who is champion of the very next division above him, be the man he would have his sights set on.
“The Dominator” responded in no holds barred fashion to the fan, pointing out his belief that it actually wouldn’t be up to him or the UFC, as he claims McGregor calls his own shots.
“Look, everybody’s calling out McGregor, so I don’t want to be another guy because everybody wants that fight,” said Cruz. “But the thing is, McGregor is picking his own fights. So that’s not up to me [and] that’s not up to the UFC, that’s up to McGregor.”
Cruz continued, “Now, I know as much as McGregor, and more about this sport than anybody, and it seems the only way to beat McGregor is with your mind. I know I can do that. I know I also can technically beat him.”
From there, Cruz, the reigning UFC 135-pound champion said that he would be willing to fight McGregor at 145-pounds, where he is currently a champion himself, or even at 155 pounds if he wins the UFC Lightweight Title from Eddie Alvarez in his next fight at UFC 205 in November.
“I know at 145 pounds I’m extremely fast and hard to deal with,” said Cruz. “I can beat McGregor, absolutely, and I would love to fight him at 145 pounds or 155 pounds if he wins the title. I don’t care, I’m the champion and my style is built for moving up in weight, because I don’t take damage.”
In addition to his discussion with Megan Olivi on the official UFC 204 Post-Fight Show on FOX Sports 1 on Saturday night, UFC President Dana White also spoke with the lovely UFC broadcast team member for an exclusive bac…
https://youtu.be/n2ZOQ6dzZho
In addition to his discussion with Megan Olivi on the official UFC 204 Post-Fight Show on FOX Sports 1 on Saturday night, UFC President Dana White also spoke with the lovely UFC broadcast team member for an exclusive backstage interview for UFC.com.
Featured above is the complete UFC 204 Recap interview with the UFC boss man, who spoke about the fights and highlights coming out of Saturday’s UFC 204 event in Manchester, England.
For the other Megan Olivi / Dana White interview from after UFC 204, click here.
UFC’s Megan Olivi caught up with MMA legend Dan Henderson backstage after his close unanimous decision loss to UFC Middleweight Champion Michael Bisping in the main event of Saturday night’s UFC 204 event in Manchester, …
https://youtu.be/m7qh9E3f-ZM
UFC’s Megan Olivi caught up with MMA legend Dan Henderson backstage after his close unanimous decision loss to UFC Middleweight Champion Michael Bisping in the main event of Saturday night’s UFC 204 event in Manchester, England.
Featured above is Olivi’s complete discussion with Hendo, who shares his thoughts on the closely contested battle he had with “The Count” in Bisping’s hometown of Manchester, England, noting it was one of the “apprehensions” he had in coming to Manchester for such an important fight.
Hendo went on to explain that he was “disappointed with the outcome” of the UFC 204 main event fight with Bisping on Saturday. He said he felt he won the first round with a 10-8 score due to nearly finishing Bisping and then edged Bisping out in the fifth round to secure the “W,” three rounds to two. He said at worst the fight should have been scored a draw.
When Olivi brought up this being Hendo’s last time appearing inside the Octagon or fighting in MMA in general, she asked the MMA legend if he had anything he wanted to say to his fans.
Dan Henderson, always one for letting his actions speak louder than his words, simply replied, “You know, just thank you for years and years of support.”
For a ton of video highlights of the Michael Bisping vs. Dan Henderson rematch from UFC 204 on Saturday night, click here for our first set of highlights and click here for our second, more extensive video highlights of the fight.
Now coming off of a three fight win streak with his most recent victory coming last night (October 8, 2016) against Vitor Belfort in the co-main event of UFC 204, No. 9-ranked middleweight Gegard Mousasi has his eyes set on the 185-pound title, and he is looking for a big name fight to get him
Now coming off of a three fight win streak with his most recent victory coming last night (October 8, 2016) against Vitor Belfort in the co-main event of UFC 204, No. 9-ranked middleweight Gegard Mousasi has his eyes set on the 185-pound title, and he is looking for a big name fight to get him there.
In his post-fight press conference with the media, Mousasi explained his reasoning for calling out the likes of Anderson ‘The Spider’ Silva for a Octagon bout despite the fact that he is ranked outside of the top five:
“Well No. 1-4 are booked. If they give me a fight very soon, those are the guys I want to fight that are not booked. So if not they keep me waiting. Chris Weidmen or Luke Rockhold is a great match-up for me.”
While Mousasi is one of the most dangerous men to take center Octagon in the 185-pound weight division, fans seem to be overlooking the Dutchman who now owns 40 victories in his mixed martial arts career.
Later that night UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping would retain his title against longtime foe Dan Henderson, and would proceed to call out top middleweight contenders Chris Weidman and Luke Rockhold, notably leaving Mousasi’s name out of the mix:
“Well I think I’m underrated throughout my whole career, maybe because I’m from Holland people don’t care. But I don’t know, maybe throw some bottles at someone’s head and then people gonna notice me. You know, I fight Michael Bisping — with his performance tonight, I like Michael Bisping, you guys know I can beat him. I will beat Michael Bisping, I will jab his face the whole night. Easy.”
When asked if he thinks Bisping is afraid to fight him, Mousasi refuted the claim and pointed to Anderson Silva for swooping in and taking away his big name fight opportunities:
“No, no, no, no, I was scheduled to fight him but somehow Anderson Silva show up, he took my fight. I was supposed to fight ‘DC’. I was ready, I was able to go five rounds, it was me or Anderson Silva at that moment. There weren’t any other guys to choose from at that moment, so Anderson Silva been coming from an operation, laying on his couch, they woke him up, gave him some medical tests, and gave him the title shot.
“He wasn’t able to go five rounds so he choose to go three rounds, and he was happy just holding on for three rounds just to survive. So in that time it was me and Anderson who deserved to fight for the belt, if it was me and Anderson. So I don’t know, my time will come. My time will come.”
Mousasi called for a bout with Silva and was also asked about a potential match-up with longtime welterweight kingpin Georges St-Pierre as a possibility as well. Mousasi, however, finds both of those pairings highly unlikely, as he believes both men have too much to lose by fighting him and nothing to gain:
“Ya they not gonna give me that fight. He has nothing to gain to fight me, even Anderson not gonna take the fight because why would he risk against me when he can fight maybe ‘GSP’ or some other guy. So they’re not gonna take the fight against me because nothing to gain. So yea, no.”
The former Strikeforce champ was then asked about his thoughts on trash-talking money makers getting big fights instead of the men and women who are ranked high in the rankings, and Mousasi pointed at UFC champion Conor McGregor as a prime example during his answer:
“McGregor is good for the sport, but what is it? You had Muhammad Ali he was a hero, he was beside great boxer, he did big things. But now that you have Mayweather and Conor McGregor ‘I have money, I have money.’ And everybody loves it. I don’t know, that sells.
“What can I say, people are stupid. They don’t know who’s a real fighter or not, they just like to see expensive stuff on Instagram probably, I don’t know.”
With his victory over Belfort giving him his fifth win in Europe, Mousasi was asked if he prefers to fight there instead and had this to say:
“Ya Europe is good for me and USADA is good for me, and I will be champion with the USADA.”
You can watch the full UFC 204 post-fight press conference here:
Michael Bisping survived two early knockdowns to retain his UFC Middleweight Championship with a five-round decision victory over MMA legend Dan Henderson in the main event of UFC 204 on Saturday night in Manchester, Eng…
https://youtu.be/e_6GCxXIgFc
Michael Bisping survived two early knockdowns to retain his UFC Middleweight Championship with a five-round decision victory over MMA legend Dan Henderson in the main event of UFC 204 on Saturday night in Manchester, England.
Featured above is the official decision being read, as well as post-fight coverage featuring both Bisping and Henderson inside the Octagon.
Additionally, check out an assortment of highlights and other post-fight coverage from UFC’s official social media accounts below.