Michael Bisping spoke to the world media on Thursday evening ahead of his first middleweight title defence against old rival Dan Henderson at UFC 204 in Manchester.

The pair clashed verbally at the media day staredown when Bisping (29-7) told Henderson (29-7) that the belt “is staying here [with me]” before the future UFC Hall of Famer Henderson replied “they’ll build be a new one.”

Last time out it was Henderson who came off the victor at UFC 100 in 2009, but 12 years later, Bisping, who goes by the nickname of ‘The Count’, will look to get his revenge in his home city on Saturday night/Sunday morning.

Bisping stood toe to toe with his upcoming foe for the media but whilst Henderson remained largely quiet, the Brit tried talking down his opponent, touching his abs before saying “you’re a bit soft,” and that ne needed to do a few push ups.

Just like Ricky Hatton did in his heyday, Bisping will fight at the Manchester Arena at approximately 5am BST due to the fact that this is a Pay Per View event. There was a worry that fans in the United Kingdom wouldn’t take to this, but after selling out in six minutes, this is truly a night that fans won’t be forgetting in a while.

Prior to 204, Henderson has said that this will be his retirement fight, even if he does win the belt. A 20-year career of glory will come to an end for the American on Sunday morning, but it will be up to Bisping to defend his title against a fan favourite.

Who else features?

Vitor Belfort was late to the media scrum, but he looked in fine shape ahead of his fight with Gegard Mousasi, whilst Stefan Struve vs. Daniel Omielanczuk and Ovince Saint-Preux vs. Jimi Manuwa also feature on the main card.

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