UFC 204 A Night Full of Finishes

Written by Derek Moody, October 9, 2016, at 11:43 p.m.

Michael Bisping (30-7, 20-7 UFC) successfully defended his middleweight title against Dan Henderson (32-15, 9-9 UFC) at UFC 204 in Manchester, England. The main event was seven years in the making dating back to UFC 100 when Dan Henderson knocked out Michael Bisping.

Bisping had a lot to prove being the middleweight champion and asking for this redemption fight. He’s been nothing short of a fighter’s fighter never ducking opponents always looking to scrap.

Bisping had two moments were he was knocked down and close to being finished but he overcame the pressure and applied his own. Known as a hard worker, Bisping went forward walking down Hendo most of the fight. When the decision was announced many fighters disagreed stating Henderson won rounds one, two and five.

The fight was very close and could have went in favor of a draw. Although 48-47 sounds accurate that could have went for either guy based on how valuable a knockdown and a takedown are. Ultimately, Bisping did enough to retain his belt and will spend some time recovering his wounds before booking his next fight.

Finally a pay per view that the UFC could fully appreciate in UFC 204 Bisping vs Henderson II. The makings of a perfect card has 80 percent finishes with the main event going the distance in a bloody war. It’s always best when the judges have little to no involvement so the card stays honest. Sometimes the main event is best if it’s cut short because of the lopsided judging that has ruined some careers.

We saw a successful debut of a promising star in Marc Diakiese who lived up to his name “Bonecrusher.” He entered the octagon with a lot of hype and was far from letting the people down with his impressive boxing and powerslam on Lukasz Sajewski. Throwing nothing but power shots it was the inevitably that Sajewski go down were Diakiese to connect and connect he did.

On top of that brawl, Manchester was also gifted an amazing comeback finish by Leon Edwards because he almost lost by points. His chin held up against some savage shots while he patiently waited for openings to advance his position. Very reminiscent of Holly Holm vs Miesha Tate pulling off the late comeback rear naked choke.

Two fights that affected rankings the most involved Gegard Mousasi vs Vitor Belfort and Ovince Saint Preux vs Jimi Manuwa. It’s more than apparent that Belfort just isn’t who he was in 2013 before USADA took over. We see glimpses of that guy from time to time but those moments may be a thing of the past.

Mousasi has a special mix of accuracy and patience which enables him to pick people apart and that’s exactly what he did to Belfort. The speed was a factor as well as the pressure making Mousasi tough to deal with.

OSP has fought far more dangerous competition faring rather well against them. Manuwa was able to do what Jon Jones couldn’t by knocking out OSP even though Jones had a long lay off. He didn’t just knock him out, instead he did it in under two rounds quite effortlessly. For now it seems like Manuwa is back to proving he is the guy everyone thought he was before he fought Alexander Gustafsson.

UFC 204 Results

• Michael Bisping def. Dan Henderson via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 49-46)
• Gegard Mousasi def. Vitor Belfort via TKO (punches) at 2:43 of Rd 2
• Jimi Manuwa def. Ovince Saint Preux via KO (punches) at 2:38 of Rd 2
• Stefan Struve def. Daniel Omielanczuk via submission (d’arce choke) at 1:21 of Rd 2
• Mirsad Bektic def. Russell Doane via submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:22 of Rd 1
• Iuri Alcantara def. Brad Pickett via submission (triangle choke) at 1:59 of Rd 1
• Damian Stasiak def. Davey Grant via submission (armbar) at 3:56 of Rd 3
• Leon Edwards def. Albert Tumenov via submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:01 of Rd 3
• Marc Diakiese def. Lukasz Sajewski via TKO (punches) at 4:40 of Rd 2
• Mike Perry def. Danny Roberts via KO (knee and punches) at 4:40 of Rd 3
• Leonardo Santos def. Adriano Martins via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)