UFC 204 will proceed with 11 bouts. Font will serve as a backup in the event a bantamweight from the card cannot compete.
International broadcast listings for UFC 204: Bisping vs. Henderson
Saturday, October 8th
8:00PM EST / 5:00PM PST / 12:00AM GMT
10:00PM EST / 7:00PM PST / 2:00AM GMT
Countries
Algeria
Angola
Argentina
Armenia
Australia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Belarus
Belgium
Benin
Bolivia
Botswana
Brazil
Main Card – Combate
Prelims – Combate
Fight Pass Prelims – Combate
Brunei
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cameroon
Canada
Cape Verde
Central African Republic
Chad
Chile
China
Colombia
Comoros
Comoros Islands
Congo Democratic Republic
Congo Republic
Costa Rica
Cote de’ Ivoire
Croatia
Czech Republic & Slovakia
Djibouti
Egypt
El Salvador
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Ethiopia
France
Gambia
Georgia
Germany
Ghana
Guinea
Guinea Bissau
Greece
Honduras
Hungary
India
Indonesia
Iraq
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Jordan
Kenya
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Lesotho
Liberia
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Madagascar
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Malaysia
Mali
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mayotte
Mexico
Micronesia
Moldova
Mongolia
Morocco
Mozambique
Mynamar
Netherlands
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Niger
Nigeria
Norway
Palestine
Panama
Papau New Guinea
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Reunion
Russia
Rwanda
Sao Tome & Principe
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Somalia
South Africa
South Korea
South Sudan
Spain
St Helena
Sudan
Main Card – FOX Sports Africa
Prelims – Blocked
Fight Pass Prelims – Blocked
Slovenia
Swaziland
Sweden
Switzerland
Tajikistan
Tanzania
Thailand
Togo
Tunisia
Turkmenistan
U.K. / Northern Ireland
Ukraine
Uganda
Uruguay
United States
Uzbekistan
Venezuela
Vietnam
Zimbabwe
Ovince Saint Preux is back.
Less than six months from his biggest UFC clash to date, when he stepped up on short notice to fight Jon Jones for the interim light heavyweight title, Saint Preux returns to the Octagon on Saturday ready to prove he deserves the spotlight again.
Sure, he took a loss in that matchup against Jones, the former No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter, in the main event of UFC 197 in April. But Saint Preux gained plenty from the encounter which will help him this weekend and beyond.
“I took a fight on three weeks’ notice, broke my arm in the third round, and to do what I was able to do, in that fashion just alone, let me know that I belong here,” said Saint Preux, currently ranked No. 5 in the division. “Hopefully within the next year I’ll be fighting for the belt.
“There’s a difference between being ready for it and being born for it. Something like this, a moment like this I think I was born for it.”
RELATED: Top 5 moments from UFC 204 Ultimate Media Day | Forrest Griffin talks OSP on Rankings Report | Open Workout highlights
The charge towards another high-profile shot begins for Saint Preux in Manchester against No. 8-ranked Jimi Manuwa.
It may not be the main event of UFC 204, but the clash is quite the challenge for Saint Preux. Not only is Manuwa a strong challenger with a 15-2 professional record, but as one of eight fighters with British ties on the card, he’ll have more than his fair share of support within the sold-out crowd at Manchester Arena.
Finally back at full health, Saint Preux is ready.
“(The crowd) isn’t going to affect me” Saint Preux said. “It’s more for him than me – he’s the one that’s got to perform in front of that crowd. More times than the other, the crowd can get you in trouble.
“I just have to go in there and do my job like I usually do. At the end of the day I just need to get my hand raised, but I’m also an entertainer so I’m going to entertain people, too. I’m going to fight my fight. There’s a reason people like watching me fight. As long as I do that I’ll be fine.”
Jorge Mondaca is managing editor of UFC.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JorgeAMondaca
Two of the top young rising stars in the UFC will collide on Saturday, December 17, when Sage Northcutt faces unbeaten Mickey Gall in a welterweight bout at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.The Sacramento event will air live on FOX. Stay tuned to UFC.com for more fight card announcements.
It’s been a whirlwind year for New Jersey’s Gall. After calling out WWE superstar CM Punk for a UFC bout, he defeated Mike Jackson in his Octagon debut in February before defeating Punk via submission at UFC 203 in September.
Immediately after the bout, he called out Texas phenom Northcutt, and „Super Sage,“ who has gone 3-1 in the UFC with wins over Francisco Trevino, Cody Pfister and Enrique Marin, accepted, with the two meeting this December in an eagerly-anticipated showdown.
Tickets go on sale on October 28.
Both Northcutt and Gall got their UFC break by competinig in front of UFC president Dana White on his YouTube show „Dana White: Lookin’ for a Fight.“ Watch their individual episodes below to get ready for their big fight to end 2016.
Athletes scheduled to compete on the Oct. 15 card will be rebooked at upcoming UFC events in the near future. Each athlete set to compete on Oct. 15 will also receive compensation due to the card being rescheduled. With its 2016 calendar finalized, UFC officials will discuss future dates for the event.
„SMLEI and UFC will continue to work together in the future to deliver exciting live events for fans,” Edgar Tejerero, President of SM Lifestyle Entertainment, Inc. said.
Fans who have purchased tickets to the event should seek refunds at the point of purchase.
MANCHESTER, England
Saturday night’s UFC 204 co-main event between Vitor Belfort and Gegard Mousasi comes at a pivotal moment for the two fighters – one is focused on the present while the other is looking ahead to the future.
For Mousasi, the former Strikeforce champion and No. 9-ranked middleweight, this is a fight that’s been a long time coming. He has wanted to fight “legend” Belfort since 2009, when they were on schedule to battle at a catchweight in Affliction.
RELATED: UFC 204 Countdown – Belfort vs Mousasi | UFC 204 Open Workout highlights | Predictions for UFC 204 | Pre-order UFC 204 digitally now
But this has nothing to do with the past for the Netherlands standout. Mousasi, 31, knows that to reach the promised land of a title fight, the road goes through Belfort.
“He’s a legend, he’s ranked No. 5 – it makes sense,” Mousasi said of his fight against Belfort at Manchester Arena. “Vitor’s No. 5, I’m No. 9 (in the UFC’s rankings). But with the oddsmakers, I’m favored to win. I don’t know how he can be No. 5 if I’m the favorite. I hope to be No. 5 and then we go after that.”
With Father Time catching up to Belfort, 39, “The Phenom” knows it’s all about the here-and-now.
“People have been expecting (me to retire) for my past seven fights. It’s amazing how the media has this expectation,” said Belfort, the former UFC light heavyweight champion. “I don’t have a plan — my plan is to be here right now, fight the good fight and fight the best guys. I don’t want to take any easy fights.
“I think most of us think about the past or the future. Through my career I’ve learned something that’s so special and helped to guide my life: Just live in the moment. I’m living this moment.”
With the two fighters focused on different things, it makes their crossroads clash so intriguing. Both know that, in a crowded middleweight division, nothing less than a win is acceptable to reach whatever goal they have in place – be it big fights or a push towards the title. And with so many contenders set to square off in the coming weeks (former champion Chris Weidman vs Yoel Romero at UFC 205; former champ Luke Rockhold vs “Jacare” Souza a few weeks later in Australia), it may take more than a victory.“I think (Vitor’s) not at his best but I think he’s adjusted from (past) losses,” Mousasi said. “The guys that he fought were wrestlers. With me, he knows I’m going to fight stand up.
“I hope to finish him in one or two rounds”
Belfort has his own view.
“I think Gegard wants to fight the best guys. That’s an honor for me, having a guy who wants to fight me – one of the best guys in the sport as well. I admire fighters that want to fight the best guys, I have a lot of respect for competitors like that.
“I think (Mousasi) is wrong. Very, very wrong. I’m looking for victory. My name is victory – I’m Vitor!”
Jorge Mondaca is the managing editor of UFC.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JorgeAMondaca
LEON EDWARDS VS. ALBERT TUMENOV
We start in the welterweight division with Leon Edwards and Albert Tumenov. A southpaw striker, “Rocky” Edwards defends significant strikes at a rate of 57.92%, which is about 56% higher than Rocky Balboa. Albert Tumenov saw his five-fight win streak disappear at the hands of a Gunnar Nelson neck crank back in May.
When you see an English fighter against a Russian one, the prejudiced one in you might jump to conclusions about wrestling. This time around you’re only half right. Both fighters have solid wrestling defense, but they’re not particularly adept offensively. Edwards hit some outside trip takedowns in his last fight, but it’s unlikely he’ll be able to hit those against Tumenov. In terms of striking, Edwards has great head movement, but underutilized leg movement. He plants himself heavy to the mat and doesn’t advance well. This especially happens when he overcommits on his left hand. Tumenov can be passive at times (that was his biggest mistake against Nelson), but his greatest attribute is his counterstriking. When he answers, he comes with fluid, powerful combinations. Tumenov gets back in the win column with a second round TKO.
STEFAN STRUVE VS. DANIEL OMIELANCZUK
Next we move to heavyweight for Stefan Struve and Daniel Omielanczuk. After a long layoff, Struve only needed 16
RELATED: Watch Bisping vs. Hendo 1 from UFC 100 free | Watch Bisping win the title vs. Luke Rockhold free | Bisping reaping rewards from years of sacrifice | Henderson happy to re-write retirement script
OVINCE SAINT PREUX VS. JIMI MANUWA
That brings us to light heavyweight for Ovince Saint Preux and Jimi Manuwa. Saint Preux returns to the Octagon after going the distance with Jon Jones. Powerful, but unorthodox, OSP confuses opponents with his irregular attack rhythm. Manuwa’s two career losses have come in his last three fights. One was against Anthony Johnson and the other was to Alexander Gustafsson, but the “Poster Boy” could use some momentum.
Manuwa and OSP do best when they take control. They prefer to move forward and dictate engagements instead of sitting back and countering. Manuwa especially seems to know only one speed and one direction. OSP, on the other hand, prefers to lull opponents to sleep with inaction and then strike. Much like Struve-Omielanczuk, these two fighters also have sub 50% striking defense. Manuwa likes to stand in the pocket a bit too much, but that could be a strength in this fight. OSP may have gone five rounds with Jon Jones, but the pace of the action was muted. OSP actually threw more strikes in his three round fight against Rafael Cavalcante than in five rounds against Jones. Manuwa may lose the first round, but his pace wears down OSP en route to the upset decision victory.
MICHAEL BISPING VS. DAN HENDERSON
Time for the main event! Michael Bisping has had a storied career in the UFC. Even though he’s currently tied with Georges St-Pierre for the most wins in UFC history, few thought he’d ever receive a title shot, much less become champion. Not only did he win the title, he exacted revenge against Luke Rockhold. Now, six years removed from being a victim of one of the most famous KOs in history, he has another shot at redemption against Dan Henderson.
At lot changes in six years…except for Dan Henderson. He may be older and have some more miles on him, but his power and ability to change a fight with a single strike hasn’t changed. Bisping, however, has elevated his game. He moves around a lot more and hides his strikes with sharp angles and feints. The only problem is that he wastes a lot of punches (his accuracy rate is 38.77%). In his last 10 fights, the only people Bisping has finished are Cung Le and Luke Rockhold. Le gassed and Rockhold fell victim to his own hubris. To win, Bisping has to stay disciplined and dart in and out for five rounds. Henderson needs to connect with one big punch. Bisping’s had a fairy tale story, but this weekend it turns into a nightmare. Dan Henderson strikes again with a second round knockout.
That wraps up another fairy tale edition of the Downes Side (probably one of the Grimm ones). Follow me on Twitter @dannyboydownes. Also, don’t forget to leave your own predictions, analysis, analogues or favorite analogies on the page here.
MMA legend Dan Henderson joins the show to discuss his UFC 204 Middleweight title fight against Michael Bisping, his retirement plans, and the evolution of the fight game. Later, actor Thomas Haden Church comes in-studio to discuss his new HBO show Divorce, working with Sarah Jessica Parker, going to Marlon Brando’s house, Bisping vs. Henderson, and secrets of the hotel industry, amongst other things.
Some of the highlights from Episode 32 of UFC Unfiltered include:
Hendo on the fans helping him get a title shot
Hendo will definitely retire after UFC 204
Hendo regrets not being able to test himself against Jon Jones
THC on his early days in radio
THC on SJP and HBO’s Divorce
It’s starting to become a theme on this season of The Ultimate Fighter, as the seventh opening round matchup ended in a finish, with Matt „Danger“ Schnell sinking in a second round submission to finish Matt Rizzo. For those keeping count at home, that’s seven fights and seven finishes thus far in the tournament of champions to determine who will face flyweight king Demetrious Johnson.
Schnell and Rizzo engaged in a back and forth war over two rounds in the best ground battle of the season, but before the two fighters locked horns in the Octagon, they both gave some background on how they got here.
For Matt Schnell, his journey to The Ultimate Fighter actually started when he was just a kid in Louisiana, where he emulated just about everything his older brother did while he was growing up. That meant Schnell was fighting and, according to him, it was happening almost every day for any number of reasons. If somebody looked at him sideways, Schnell would confront the person, and before long, it ended up with fists being thrown. He eventually channeled that aggression into mixed martial arts.
Four years ago, Schnell tasted his first bit of fame after he appeared on a MTV reality series called „Caged,“ which documented the lives of four up and coming MMA fighters as they made their way through the amateur circuit. Schnell was one of the most memorable cast members, and his star power earned him a lot of attention during the early part of his career. Of course that backfired on him after Schnell had somewhat unrealistic expectations about his course to get to the UFC, and after a 3-2 start to his career, he was forced to re-evaluate and make some adjustments.
Among the changes he made, Schnell ended up moving to Florida, where he began training full time with American Top Team – the camp responsible for welterweight champion Tyron Woodley, women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes and fellow Ultimate Fighter cast mate Jaime Alvarez. Schnell came to the Florida-based camp thanks to his friendship with UFC lightweight Dustin Poirier, who also grew up in Louisiana before relocating to American Top Team a few years back.
Since then, Schnell has put together an impressive winning streak while also becoming the interim flyweight champion for Legacy Fighting Championships out of Texas. When he’s not fighting, Schnell is trying to find time to spend with his girlfriend Morgan, who he’s been with for the past four years but it’s all been at a distance. Schnell revealed that his girlfriend lives in St. Louis, so he’s forced to be away from her most of the time except in those rare moments when he can fly in to town to spend time with her. His long-term goal is to win the show, win the UFC title and hopefully find a way that they can be together full-time.
As Schnell prepared for the fight this week, he used coach Henry Cejudo to great effect, considering his opponent Matt Rizzo comes from a wrestling background and would likely be looking for the takedown at some point in their fight. So Schnell worked with Cejudo and the rest of the coaches to get ready for that kind of wrestling attack so he could counter and look for the knockout on the feet.
As for Rizzo, the 30-year-old Pennsylvania native comes to the UFC as the Ring of Combat flyweight champion and the owner of a 9-2 record compiled while facing some tough east coast competition throughout his career. Rizzo lives at home with his parents along with his fiancée as he tries to make it as a professional fighter. Rizzo also holds a full-time job as a security system installer, and then as soon as he punches the clock, he’s making a bee line to the gym, where he can continue to chase his dreams as a mixed martial artist
As noted by his opponent, Rizzo actually started wrestling when he was just four years old, so grappling is something that just runs through his veins. He also developed into a very slick Brazilian jiu-jitsu stylist after falling in love with mixed martial arts. Now Rizzo is trying to put it all together for a run in the UFC, and his golden opportunity came with The Ultimate Fighter this season.
MATT SCHNELL VS. MATT RIZZO
ROUND 1
Just like his coaches predicted, Matt Schnell didn’t have to wait very long for Matt Rizzo to swoop in and start looking for the takedown. Rizzo kept up with relentless pressure as he pushed Schnell up against the cage, but he couldn’t get the takedown until he nearly surrendered a guillotine choke as they fell to the mat. Schnell had his arms wrapped tight around Rizzo’s neck, but to his credit, the Ring of Combat champion toughed his way through the submission and eventually popped his head out to escape. Rizzo continuously looked for the takedown throughout the opening round, but Schnell did a great job scrambling out of bad positions and never getting locked on the ground with the wrestler. Finally, after Rizzo did manage to plant his opponent on the mat with less than a minute to go, Schnell once again looked for an escape, but he used a triangle choke that nearly got locked up before the round came to an end.
ROUND 2
The second round started out much like the first, with Rizzo shooting for a takedown, but he made a critical timing error and Schnell was able to sprawl out before landing on top when they hit the mat. Schnell didn’t maintain the position for very long, however, as Rizzo quickly escaped and then managed to get both of his opponent’s legs and landing yet another takedown. Rizzo was back on top but that maneuver ended up costing him dearly because Schnell once again saw the opening for the triangle choke. Except this time there was no bell to stop the submission from ending the fight. Schnell locked up the hold and Rizzo had no choice but to tap out.
Matt Schnell wins by second round submission via triangle choke and he’s moving on to the next round.
While TJ Dillashaw and Cody Garbrandt continue to campaign for the next title shot against Dominick Cruz, John Lineker made a big statement in the bantamweight division with his win against John Dodson at Fight Night Portland.
Lineker moves up a spot to No. 2 in the rankings, dropping Rafael Assuncao to No. 3. Jimmie Rivera continues to climb since his massive win over Urijah Faber at UFC 203. “El Terror” takes the No. 4 position and drops Bryan Caraway down to No. 5.
After the event, Lineker made his case to Megan Olivi as to why he believes he should be the one to face Cruz next.
“I think I proved to the UFC that I can do this,” Lineker said. “I’ve been winning fight after fight. But if they think I need to fight another fight, I’ll do that also.”
RELATED: Complete official UFC rankings | Watch Lineker backstage interview at Fight Night Portland | Brandon Moreno interview
Brandon Moreno’s upset victory in his UFC debut against Louis Smolka shook up the flyweight division. Moreno is a competitor on this season of The Ultimate Fighter and his early exit allowed him to step in for Sergio Pettis on short notice against Smolka, who had won four in a row.
Moreno’s huge win vaults him into the rankings at 125 pounds. He takes the No. 15 spot and drops Smolka four slots down to No. 13. John Moraga, Matheus Nicolau, Dustin Ortiz and Just Scoggins all jumped ahead of Smolka.
Will Brooks took a tough defeat against Alex “Cowboy” Oliveira, who missed weight by 5 1/2 pounds. The loss dropped Brooks from the No. 12 spot in the lightweight division all the way out of the Top 15 ranks.
Rashid Magomedov reappeared in the lightweight rankings at No. 15 and Gilbert Melendez (No. 11), Francisco Trinaldo, Al Iaquinta and Evan Dunham all jumped up one spot.
Matt Parrino is a digital producer and writer for UFC.com. Follow him on Twitter at @MattParrinoUFC
