Sherdog’s Top 10: UFC Middleweight Title Fights

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4. Michael Bisping vs. Dan Henderson
UFC 204
Oct. 8, 2016 | Manchester, England
Bisping denied the fairytale ending for which Henderson and his supporters had hoped. “The Count” withstood two knockdowns to retain the Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight crown with a unanimous decision over Henderson in the UFC 204 main event at the Manchester Arena. Scores were 48-47, 48-47 and 49-46, all in favor of Bisping. Afterward, the 46-year-old Henderson announced his retirement, closing out a remarkable career that spanned 47 fights across nearly two decades of competition. The trophy-case space he was saving for a UFC championship will remain forever vacant. It was anything but a walk in the park for Bisping, who hit the deck twice -- once in the first round and again in the second -- after absorbing the former two-division Pride Fighting Championships titleholder’s fabled right hand. He was in jeopardy of being stopped in Round 1, where Henderson bombarded him with crushing elbows after he sent him crashing to the canvas with an equilibrium-jarring overhand. Bisping endured but emerged with substantial damage to his left eye. Henderson faded down the stretch, particularly in the championship rounds, as he could muster neither the speed nor the power necessary to author the finish. Bisping continued to apply pressure while “Hendo” sucked wind. According to FightMetric data, he outlanded Henderson in significant strikes and total strikes in each of the final four rounds.

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