So, that’s about us. Michael Bisping is still champion of the world, Dan Henderson is still a hero, and between the two of them they delivered a fight of quite staggering brilliance. Oh, and the rest of the card was pretty good too.
Bye!
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Hendo, meanwhile, is typically gracious in defeat, and confirms that he’s retiring. “Not bad for an old man,” he says. “I wish they judged the fight on how you look after.”
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And then a message for “you fucking arseholes in rest of the division”. “Chris Weidman, you lost your last fight, Luke Rockhold, I knocked you out in three minutes, Yoel Romero, you’re on a drugs ban, shame on you. Get yourselves a win and let’s do this!”
“This guy knocked me out cold ... cold! The worst knockout in UFC history. The jitters I had this week.”
“The support you guys gave me melts my hearts every time. I’m m not being cheesy.”
“He kicked my arse,” says Bisping. “Gotta respect the guy, he’s a legend.”
But what a pair of human beings.
Aaaaaaand still!
48-47, 48-47 and 49-46. Fair enough.
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And here comes the decision...
Round 5
So, here it is! Henderson is ordered to go and take the belt, but Bisping again pins him on the fence, whiffing with a spinning high kick. Bisping is trying to control the range with kicks, staying out of the way of that hilarious right while scoring points. Henderson’s corner scream at him to finish the fight and he’s in the centre now trying to land punches, depositing a knee to the midriff before resting against the fence.
Bisping has huge swelling under his left eye and for a moment is pinned on the cage. He gets away, but Henderson takes him down! He can’t do anything with it, but the judges might like it in what is a much closer round. Hendo with another takedown and Bisping might use it to get on top, but limp-legs out instead. Flying knee from Bisping as the clappers go, Henderson tries some kind of cartwheel kick, and that’s that! What a fight! Bisping 10-9 Henderson, so I’ve got it Bisping 49-47 Henderson. But really, it could go either way, or be a draw.
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Round 4
Henderson is blowing hard, and is admonished by his corner for his work those last five minutes; Bisping is told to make sure he wins these next two, which will be enough to retain the belt, even with a draw. I wonder if Bisping might try a takedown - he has nasty ground-and-pound, and Henderson won’t enjoy carrying his weight.
Henderson shuffles around the outside, then takes a kick to the box. The ref tells Bisping that he’ll think about taking a point next time, while Henderson should take all of his allotted five minutes. The crowd boo and Bisping encourages them on the basis that Henderson is taking advantage . . . of being cracked in the dress circle. Er, ok.
They resume and it’s more of the same, Bisping doing most of the work. But suddenly Henderson is coming forward more than at any time in the fight landing a right and leg kick - he might not rate Bisping’s power. “Dan Henderson makes Chuck Norris wet the bed,” says Stann. Bisping eats a knee just before the bell, but that’s another to him; this final one promises to be an absolute banger. Bisping 10-9 Henderson.
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Round 3
We know what happens now. Bisping pushes the pace, lands some decent shots, while Henderson waits. Perhaps Bisping should try a few more kicks, because thanks to that new left hook he’s learnt, he’s having trouble stopping the right over the top of it - previously, his problem was avoiding left hands. Both these guys are such incredible competitors, what a scrap this is! Henderson goes for the takedown, can’t complete it, and he’s breathing heavily. Bisping uncorks a right, then a kick and then a left, but none land clean, then another right from Henderson finds a home - he grins. Bisping 10-9 Henderson.
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Round 2
Bisping again pushing the pace, throwing a lead left-hook - the same one that missed, allowing Henderson to land that humungous right. Bisping finds a home for a couple of looping rights and he’s looking good again - but he was in the last round as well, before he wasn’t.
Bisping digs to the body with a left, than comes from the other side with a right kick - Henderson skips away. He looks to be taking this round off, but Bisping rocks him with a right to the jaw, presses forwards, boots him in the groin - the referee does nothing - and then, after missing with a left, gets knocked down with another right, an overhand! What a weapon that is! It’s like something in a cartoon! Henderson follows him down, Bisping hangs on, and both fighters will probably take that. But if it’s enough to steal Henderson the round, Bisping needs to win all three remaining for a draw. I’d go Bisping 10-10 Henderson.
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Round 1
Bisping is sitting down on his punches, taking the centre of the ring while Henderson waits for the big shot, right hand cocked by his chin. Bisping lands a stiff jab, but that’s more or less it for the first 90 seconds, before Henderson steps in with an overhand right - Bisping slips it, then misses with a retaliatory left.
Bisping scores with a couple of inside leg kicks and he’s growing in confidence now, easily shucking a single-leg effort. Both men are waiting for the opportunity, as the crowd sing “stand up if you love Bisping”. Henderson doesn’t seem to have much in the way of ideas, but then an overhand right goes close and Bisping is bleeding from an eye. Bisping misses with a left hoo, Henderson lands a giant right hand and Bisping goes down! Henderson follows him down and tries to finish but Bisping holds on, ceding his back then bouncing up! He’s bledding heavily but throws a jumping kick to show that he’s fine now! Bisping 8-10 Henderson
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And here we go!
Bisping is introduced as champion. He enjoys it.
Bisping stops on the apron to salute the crowd, then performs a lap of honour around the ring. He is more relaxed than amped.
And he walks out like the champ too, arms aloft. He’s always confident; is he over-confident?
Here comes the champ!
And whatever happens tonight, what a career Dan Henderson has had: an Olympian, a two-weight Pride champion, the Strikeforce champion, and an absolute great of the sport. But in many ways it’s not about the belts at all, but the memories.
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Can Bisping stay away from the H-bomb? He’s been rocked in more or less every fight in his UFC career, abut Henderson hits harder than Denis Kang and Yoshihiro Akiyama. He rarely rocks anyone, because one shot is all it takes to finish things.
So, just the main e-vent to come. This has been a very quick evening indeed.
Mousasi says that because Belfort’s a southpaw, he can’t see the right kick coming, and suggests a fight with Anderson Silva next. I daresay he can do better than that, even if it’ll make him the most money.
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Gegard Mousasi defeats Vitor Belfort by TKO at 2.43 of R2
Mousasi’s corner tell him to maintain the pressure and that Belfort is still dangerous with his left hand. He is so ridiculously chilled in there, while Belfort is in danger of trying so hard to last, he neglects to do what he does best: wing punches and kicks with extreme prejudice. Mousasi launches a devastating combination! He starts with a right head kick then panels Belfort with a right cross prior to a further flurry of punches; Belfort is staggering like a drunken chicken, face a mess, and Mousasi takes him down, mounts, and goes for the choke but decides to smash down a variety of haymakers instead, until the referee steps in.
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Round 1
Both guys walk out slowly before Mousasi takes the centre of the octagon. Belfort dances around pretending to be patient before unloading, while Mousasi looks for the takedown, pretending to strike. And Belfort lands a left! But Mousasi takes it well and backpeddles. He’s not really making Belfort work, though, which means more chance of getting tagged for longer, and he fails with two takedown attempts.
Mousasi keeps Belfort out of range with a pair of push-kicks, then blocks a high kick; Belfort is waiting for an opening and doing very little in the meantime. Nice jab from Mousasi, then Belfort lands another left; Mousasi replies with a jab, then another, backed up by a left cross! Easily the best shots of the round, and Belfort clinches, then is taken down on the horn. Belfort 9-10 Mousasi.
Belfort’s arms look huge - it won’t be pleasant to get hit by them. But, on the other hand, nor will it be long till they’re full of lactic.
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Belfort is doing his mean face.
Young Belfort, against the equally petrifisome Wanderlei Silva:
Vitor Belfort hasn’t seen the second round since he knocked out Michael Bisping in 2013. But if Gegard Mousasi can withstand the opening onslaught, chances are he’ll close the deal before the final bell.
So, three main card fights, three finishes. And who’d bet against two more in the two that remain?
“It is what it is,” he adds.
“At the end of the day, no one likes pain,” revelates Manuwa.
Jimi Manuwa defeats Ovince Saint Preux by knockout at 2.38 of R2!
What a finish this is! Manuwa has OSP on the fence and uncorks a jazzer of the left uppercut to the body. He then bides his time and picks a right hook, before sealing the deal with a screaming left hook to the side of the head - OSP is out before he hits the deck, legs akimbo. Ouch.
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Manuwa is having some success with his left hand, ripping a pair of uppercuts to the body. He then backs his man up against the fence and flings a flying knee that lands in part . . .
Couple of nice hooks to the body from Manuwa, backed up by a kick - but then OSP gets the clinch. They break, though, and Manuwa lands a left hook to the phizog - it doesn’t elicit much of a reaction, but is probably the best punch of the fight so far.
Close round, that - my guess is it’ll go to OSP, who spent more of it in a controlling position.
Manuwa initiates the clinch for reasons known best to himself and expends a stack of energy fighting off the takedown prior to getting taken down, then a stack more going for a guillotine that was never happening. Though neither man has landed anything serious yet, this is a fun, back-and-forth battle.
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Manuwa is having minor success with low kicks, but OSP again gets the clinch again, only to break when Manuwa starts flinging knees at him.
Manuwa is stalking as both men throw kicks, before OSP gets the clinch. They exchange knees then break.
Manuwa is world-ranked eight; that says more about the state of what was once the sport’s blue-ribband division than about yerman.
OSP has a superman tattoo on his arm. Not sure there’s any coming back from that.
Next for our delectation we have Jimi Manuwa against Ovince Saint Preux. OSP is an understandable favourite - his wrestling skill and athleticism mean he’s more likely to dictate where the fight goes and he’s generally better and more rounded. But he is also hittable, which makes Manuwa a live dog, because believe he knows how to hit, even giving Alex Gustafsson pause when they met in 2014.
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Glad it’s not just me.
Struve looks like he's been bitten by a radioactive Michael van Gerwen #UFC204
— Tom Victor (@tomvictor) October 9, 2016
Struve - about whom there is something of “the Michael van Gerwens” - says he didn’t feel good in the warm-up, and his arms and legs were full of lactic acid, so he just had to find a way. He says he loves the rolling d’arce, but didn’t fight well today, and can’t help but mention the win he holds over the champ, asking for a top-five guy next time out.
Stefan Struve defeats Daniel Omielanczuk by submission (d'arce choke) at 1.41 R2
That’s the first time Omielanczuk has been stopped, and a fine performance from Skyscraper.
Omielanczuk tries the Roy Nelson approach, pushing past the 7” Struve’s reach to unload overhands. But Struve gets out of the way and eventually gets the takedown, into mount, into back mount.
Next up we have heavyweight tilt between Stefan Struve and Daniel Omielanczuk. Struve’s recovery from a heart condition is one of MMA’s happiest stories, but since then, he has only beaten the shopworn Antonio Silva. Tonight, he was meant to fight Ruslan Magomedov, only for a staph infection to intervene. So Omielanczuk, that rarity - a heavyweight grinder - stepped in, protecting a record of three consecutive victories.
Bektic says he wasn’t injured all that time, he was getting better. Stann says that whenever he calls a fight, Bektic texts him and says he could have the winner.
Mirsad Bektic defeats Russell Doane by submission (rear naked choke) at 4.22 of R1
Brilliant performance. Bektic looks ready to go again and Brian Stann, perhaps the best colour commentator in all sport, comes into the cage to interview him.
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Doane does well to get up, but he’s been carrying Bektic’s weight for quite some time now, and for a bloke in on short notice, that’s not a good look. And he’s down again, Bektic looking for the rear naked choke and with a body triangle locked-in, restricting his breathing.
Doane has come out swinging, but as the round wears on, Bektic, our injured for 17 months, takes over. He takes Doane’s back and eventually drags him to the ground.
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Anyway, our first scuffle is in the 145lb featherweight division. Bosnia’s Mirsad Bektic is a rising star and expected to take on another rising star in England’s Arnold Allen. But Allen was forced out with injury, so Russell Doane of Hawaii stepped in.
Tonights for you, Josh.
— #UFC204 (@ufc) October 9, 2016
You'll be with us always. #RIPJoshSamman pic.twitter.com/Rc2LkoIXTS
So, here we go. Bisping is confident, Henderson is confident, every fighter on the card is confident, and sometime around 6am local time, an arena full of celebrants will be discharged into Manchester!
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Preamble
“Aaand neeeeeew!” Words we all love to hear; words we never thought we’d hear anywhere near the others words, “Michael ‘The Count’ Bis-ping!” But when he handed Luke Rockhold a short-notice revenge-thrashing, hear them we did, because suddenly, the aforementioned Bisping was “undisputed middleweight champion of the world”. Even now, in a division which which includes Chris Weidman, Jacare Souza, Yoel Romero and Gegard Mousasi, it seems like it cannot be . . . and yet it is.
It is a triumph of belief, attitude and heart. Every time Bisping neared a title shot; every time he fought someone elite, you might say; every time he fought someone chemically enhanced, he might say; he came up short. There are elements of truth in both. Rockhold and Tim Kennedy beat Bisping handily without any help; he was on the wrong end of a disputed decision against Chael Sonnen; he may have lost to Henderson and Vitor Belfort regardless.
But here we are! Under the tutelage of Jason Parillo, Bisping no longer simply sticks and moves; he is prepared to stay in the pocket and trade, making the most of a sneaky boxing game. At the age of 37, he has never fought with greater calmness or conviction.
And then there’s Dan Henderson – as far as this evening goes, the Bisping to Bisping’s Rockhold. Henderson, who will retire after this fight whatever happens, is neither meant to win nor expected to win; he’s lost six of his last nine fights, four of those by knockout or stoppage, and he’s 46 years old. Just consider that for a moment: 46 years old. At 46 years old, there is nothing in the world he wants to do more than put himself through the mental and physical torture of yet another training camp, to earn the reward of a fight in a cage. He is not like us.
On the face of it, this is a gimme for Bisping, a reward from his bosses for his years of toil and trashtalk. But the last thing any fighter loses is his punch – and if there’s one thing Hendo knows how to do, it’s that. Just ask Bisping.
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