Manchester, England. – On Saturday, October 8, UFC® middleweight world champion, Michael “The Count” Bisping will defend his title for the first time in his hometown of Manchester, England, against MMA veteran Dan “Hendo” Henderson. Ahead of the highly anticipated UFC 204®: BISPING vs. HENDERSON 2, eight of the fighters set to feature on the main card shared their thoughts and predictions.
Michael Bisping – “I’m coming for him, make no mistake. I’ve got no ill will towards him, he’s a nice guy, I wish him the best but tomorrow night I’m looking to hurt this guy, I’m looking to knock him out. I’m very excited to be here in Manchester. The people are fired up, it’s going to be crazy this weekend and I’m super pumped. I think Dan is going to try and surprise me with a takedown or two. I’ve seen his jiu jitsu coach around who, quite frankly, looks like he couldn’t fight his way out of a wet paper bag so he really needs to invest in some new coaches. He’s obviously going to try and take me down but Dan Henderson isn’t taking anyone down. He knows he’s going to get knocked out, it’s as simple as that.”
Dan Henderson – “The training camp went well. I pushed a little harder with the cardio because it’s a five round fight and that’s about the only difference. I focused on the game plan and getting in shape. Personally, it’s all about getting the belt. It could be anybody that has it, I’m looking to go and take it from them. It just happens to be Bisping who has it and just because I knocked him out last time, I’m not thinking that it’s a foregone conclusion that I’m going to knock him out again. I’m going to have to work to be able to beat him again. I know that it’s got the potential to be a really tough fight.”
Vitor Belfort – “This is like a title fight. Mousasi is one of the toughest fighters in the division. He’s the toughest of the guys not holding the belt, so this is like a title fight for me. With my last fight, my whole training camp I was thinking what will I do if Jacare does this, or he does that, and everything was about defense. But for this fight, we had an amazing camp and I was training what I do best and that’s the difference. Fans can expect to see the best Vitor Belfort tomorrow.”
Gegard Mousasi – “The week has been good. We made the weight and now it’s just another hurdle – and that’s the fight. Vitor is a legend. He can be dangerous and once he has you in trouble, he finishes you. But, I’m not planning to let that happen. I feel good, I feel confident that I’m going to win. I’ve fought before in the UK and Ireland – people like to make a lot of noise here so there’s going to be a great energy in the arena.”
Ovince Saint Preux – “Fight week has been pretty good. I’ve been staying low and taking it easy before the fight so that when the fight finally comes around, I’m ready to go out there and put on a good show. I’m looking forward to putting on a show for the fans. I’ll get it done wherever I need to get it done – if it’s standing up, if it’s on the ground – I’m going to get it done.”
Jimi Manuwa – “I’m feeling good, I’m feeling confident and looking forward to it. Preparations have gone perfect for me. The weight cut was good, fitness, conditioning and everything is really good. I see tomorrow night finishing in a second round stoppage for me.”
Stefan Struve – “I feel very relaxed. I didn’t have to adjust much, coming in from Florida which was actually nice so I’m going to like fighting at 3:30am I think. I’ve been full of energy around that time of night. I’m going to be ready to take care of business tomorrow. I’m the much better fighter wherever the fight takes place – on the feet, on the ground, wrestling – we’ll see where the finish is going to be but I’m going to take him out within two rounds.”
Daniel Omielanczuk – “This is literally the biggest fight of my career but I don’t have any worries or any bad feelings in my heart; I’m just going to go for it. This will be an extremely tough fight.”
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UFC 204®: BISPING vs. HENDERSON 2 will air live on Pay-Per-View at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT, with the prelims live on FS1 starting at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT and early prelims on UFC FIGHT PASS® at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.
