''UFC 204: Bisping vs. Henderson 2'' was a

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...

event produced by the

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

held on October 8, 2016 at the

Manchester Arena Manchester Arena, currently referred to as the AO Arena for sponsorship reasons, is an indoor arena in Manchester, England, immediately north of the Manchester city centre, city centre and partly above Manchester Victoria station in air rights s ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Background

This was the fourth UFC event contested in Manchester and first

PPV PPV, ppv or pPv may refer to: Technology * Pay-per-view on cable or satellite television * People Powered Vehicle, a human-powered vehicle from 1970 * Police Pursuit Vehicles, the most common police vehicles in the United States and Canada Scienc ...

event held in the European/Middle East market since

UFC 112 ''UFC 112: Invincible'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on April 10, 2010, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Due to the time zone difference in Abu Dhabi, UFC 112 was shown live on pay-per-view in the U ...

. In order for the event to be broadcast live during

prime time Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

hours on the east coast of North America, the main card was expected to begin at 3:00 am (October 9) local time in Manchester

GMT Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the mean solar time at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, counted from midnight. At different times in the past, it has been calculated in different ways, including being calculated from noon; as a cons ...

, with a full preliminary card beginning at approximately 11:00 pm (October 8) local time. Despite the very late starting time, ticket demand was exceptionally high, as all tickets for the venue sold out in a matter of minutes. The event was headlined by a

UFC Middleweight Championship Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champions are fighters who have won UFC championships. Historical notes At the time of the UFC's inception in 1993, mixed martial arts was not sanctioned in the United States, and did not include weight classe ...

bout between current champion

Michael Bisping Michael Gavin Joseph Bisping (; born 28 February 1979) is an English actor, sports analyst, commentator and retired mixed martial artist, who competed in the Middleweight and Light Heavyweight division of the UFC. A professional competitor ...

and the former Pride Welterweight, Pride Middleweight and former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion

Dan Henderson Daniel Jeffery Henderson (born August 24, 1970) is an American retired mixed martial artist and Olympic wrestler, who last competed as a middleweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He was the last Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champi ...

. The pairing met previously in July 2009 at

UFC 100 ''UFC 100'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on July 11, 2009, in Las Vegas, Nevada. This event was the most bought UFC pay-per-view of all time with a buyrate of 1.6million, until UFC 202 brok ...

with Henderson taking the victory via second round highlight reel knockout. A bantamweight bout between

Brad Pickett Brad Pickett (born 24 September 1978) is an English former mixed martial artist. He is a former Cage Rage British Featherweight Champion. He competed as a bantamweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship; Dana White stated that Pickett was ...

and

Iuri Alcântara Iuri Alcântara (born 4 August 1980) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist who competed in the UFC bantamweight division. A professional MMA competitor since 2003, Alcântara mostly fought in Brazil before signing with World Extreme Cagefighting ...

was previously linked to UFC Fight Night: Arlovski vs. Barnett. However, it was contested at this event.

Ruslan Magomedov Ruslan Gadzhimagomedovich Magomedov (russian: Руслан Гаджимагомедович Магомедов; born 26 November 1986 in Dagestan) is a Russian mixed martial artist, who competes in the Heavyweight division. Magomedov was the f ...

was expected to face

Stefan Struve Stefan Jaimy Struve (; born February 18, 1988) is a Dutch former mixed martial artist who competed as a heavyweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). At , he is the tallest fighter in the history of the UFC. Background Growing up in th ...

at this event, but pulled out on September 9 due to a

staph infection A staphylococcal infection or staph infection is an infection caused by members of the ''Staphylococcus'' genus of bacteria. These bacteria commonly inhabit the skin and nose where they are innocuous, but may enter the body through cuts or abrasio ...

. Struve faced

Daniel Omielańczuk Daniel Omielańczuk (born August 31, 1982) is a Polish professional mixed martial artist and kickboxer currently competing in the Heavyweight division of Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki (KSW). A professional MMA competitor since 2009, he has competed ...

Arnold Allen was expected to face

Mirsad Bektić Mirsad Bektić (born February 16, 1991) is a Bosnian-born American retired professional mixed martial artist who competed in the Featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Background Mirsad Bektić was born on February ...

at the event. However, Allen pulled out of the fight on 29 September for undisclosed reasons.

Jeremy Kennedy Jeremy Michael Fitz-Kennedy (born September 16, 1992) is a Canadian mixed martial artist, currently competing in the Featherweight division of Bellator MMA. In addition to competing for Bellator, Kennedy has also competed in the Ultimate Fighting ...

was briefly linked as the replacement. Subsequently, just hours after his participation was publicly confirmed, Kennedy indicated he was injured and unable to fight. Bektić faced

Russell Doane Russell Allan Doane is an American professional mixed martial artist currently competing in the Bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is the former Tachi Palace Fights Bantamweight Champion and King of the Cage Flyweigh ...

Reza Madadi Reza Madadi (, (born June 20, 1978) is a retired Iranian-born Swedish mixed martial artist who competed in the lightweight division. A professional mixed martial artist from 2006 to 2019, Madadi is best known for competing in the Ultimate Fightin ...

was expected to face promotional newcomer

Marc Diakiese Marc Diakiese (born 16 March 1993) is a Congolese-born English professional mixed martial artist who competes as a lightweight for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He has also competed for Caged Steel and BAMMA. Background Aged 17, Diakies ...

at the event. However, Madadi pulled out of the fight in the week leading up to the event citing an eye injury and was replaced by Łukasz Sajewski.

Ian Entwistle Ian Entwistle (born 19 November 1986) is a British mixed martial artist who formerly competed in the Bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Background Born and raised in Accrington, Lancashire, Entwistle competed in ...

was expected to face

Rob Font Rob Font (born June 25, 1987) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Bantamweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional competitor since 2011, Font formerly competed for CES M ...

at the event. However, on the day prior to the event, Entwistle fell ill during the

weight cutting Weight cutting is the practice of fast weight loss prior to a sporting competition. It most frequently happens in order to qualify for a lower weight class (usually in combat sports or rowing, where weight is a significant advantage) or in sports ...

process and the bout was scrapped.

Results

Bonus awards

The following fighters were awarded $50,000 bonuses: *Fight of the Night: Michael Bisping vs. Dan Henderson *Performance of the Night: Jimi Manuwa and Iuri Alcântara

References

{{UFC Events Ultimate Fighting Championship events 2016 in mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts in the United Kingdom Sports competitions in Manchester 2016 in English sport October 2016 sports events in the United Kingdom

Background

Results

Bonus awards

See also

References