Michael Bisping's 5 most memorable UFC fights

#5 vs. Dan Henderson – UFC 204 – 10/08/16

Bisping defended his title in gritty fashion against old rival Dan Henderson at UFC 204

After his massive upset win over Luke Rockhold to capture the UFC Middleweight title in June 2016, the talk immediately turned to who would challenge Bisping in his first title defence. And the ire of the hardcore UFC fans was drawn when Dan Henderson – aged 46 at the time and with just 2 wins in his last 5 fights – was handed the opportunity over a seemingly more deserving Yoel Romero. But the fight made sense, for Bisping at least. Henderson had, of course, handed him his most infamous loss, back in 2009.

This was a chance for Bisping to gain revenge over his rival – and in his hometown of Manchester too – and also to make his first successful title defence. With Henderson miles past his prime, most fans expected Bisping to win comfortably – but it turned out that the longtime veteran had far more left in his tank than could’ve been expected.

The fight seemed to be going smoothly for Bisping through the opening round – until Henderson once again uncorked the same counter right hand that had stopped ‘The Count’ back in 2009. This time Bisping managed to survive, but it was a close call, and he was left with a massive gash under his left eye. The second round saw him seemingly taking over again, but somehow Henderson caught him with the right again, dropping him for the second time.

Again showing his massive heart, Bisping hung on to survive, and it turned out that Henderson had probably given his all in attempting to finish the fight early on. Bisping was able to pick the American apart for the majority of the final three rounds – avoiding a couple more scares along the way – and in one of 2016’s best fights, he did enough to retain his title via unanimous decision.

This was one of the most memorable fights of Bisping’s career because it encapsulated pretty much everything he was about – his fleet-footed striking style, his ability to, unfortunately, allow himself to get into trouble, and then his tremendous heart to will himself back into any fight. And against the man who handed him his worst loss, I’d guess it’d probably be the win that felt best for him, too.