In a few short weeks, the UFC will return to Manchester, England with UFC 204. In the evening’s main event, middleweight champ Michael Bisping will look to defend his title against Dan Henderson, avenging a violent, 2009 knockout loss in the process.
Though the announcement of this middleweight title fight surely raised the ire of Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, Yoel Romero, Chris Weidman, and Luke Rockhold, all of whom are thought to be more deserving of the shot than Henderson, it’s an interesting one all the same. Henderson, after all, plans to retire no matter the outcome of the bout, which means it’ll mark his last shot at UFC gold, and Bisping’s last chance at avenging his ugliest loss.
In advance of UFC 204, the organization has released an extended preview of the card’s main event, as well as it’s co-main event, which will pair former UFC champ Vitor Belfort with former Strikeforce and Dream champ Gegard Mousasi. You can watch that video above.
Bisping was last seen at UFC 199, when he scored a shocking, first-round knockout over Luke Rockhold to win the UFC middleweight title. Henderson, meanwhile, was last seen on the same card, when he buried former Bellator champion Hector Lombard with a wild, second-round elbow.
We last saw Belfort at UFC 198 in May, when he was TKO’d by Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza in the first round. The aging former champion 3-2 in his last 5, with two of those three wins coming against Henderson.
Mousasi, on the other hand, will enter the bout on a two-fight streak, having rebounded from a surprising knockout loss to Uriah Hall with dominant defeats of Thales Leites and Thiago Santos.
UFC 204’s main card will also feature a light heavyweight bout between England’s Jimi Manuwa and Ovince St. Preux, a heavyweight showdown between Stefan Struve and late-replacement Daniel Omielanczuk, and a featherweight bout between Arnold Allen and Mirsad Bektic. The undercard, meanwhile, will feature some of the biggest names in British MMA.
Which fighters do you think will come out on top at UFC 204? Sound off, PENN nation!