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Reasons to watch UFC 204

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Rewind back to the beginning of 2015 and Michael Bisping’s career looked a lot different than it does heading into UFC 204 on Pay-Per-View this Saturday night.

Coming off his third loss in his last five fights, Bisping seemed further than ever from the elusive title shot that he’d been chasing for almost 10 years.

Then something amazing happened – a series of opportunistic events, actually. Bisping won a fight and then another. Anderson Silva needed an opponent for a fight in London and “The Count” got the call for the super fight with the man who reigned in his division for most of the time Bisping was chasing the belt.

Chris Weidman got hurt before his rematch with Luke Rockhold at UFC 199 and someone needed to fill his spot. Bisping took the title fight on two weeks’ notice and shocked the world by knocking out Luke Rockhold in historic fashion.

Now Bisping is the champ, and his legacy is as impressive as any. The middleweight champion is tied with Georges St-Pierre for the most wins (19) in UFC history. He has wins over Silva and Rockhold and now gets the opportunity to avenge the most disappointing loss of his career against Dan Henderson at UFC 204.

Bisping vs. Henderson is the No. 1 reason to watch UFC 204

RELATED: Watch Bisping vs. Hendo 1 from UFC 100 free | Watch Bisping win the title vs. Luke Rockhold free | UFC 204 Embedded – Ep. 1 | Dan Hardy and John Gooden preview Bisping-Hendo 2

INGLEWOOD, CA - JUNE 04: Dan Henderson poses during the UFC 199 event at The Forum. (Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC)2- One last chance to watch the great Dan Henderson

Speaking of legendary fighting careers, Henderson is one of the best to ever do it and he’s still going strong. In his last appearance, “Hendo” finished Hector Lombard with an unbelievable head kick KO and now sets his sights on the middleweight title before he walks away from the sport.

Henderson has said he will retire after this fight, win or lose, completing one of the most iconic careers in MMA history — one that has spanned the UFC, Pride and Strikeforce. But Henderson has never captured UFC gold and he hopes to change that in his last outing.

Henderson is tied with Shogun Rua for third on the all-time UFC/Pride/Strikeforce/WEC KO list. The one-time Olympic wrestler from Temecula, Calif. has 15 knockouts out of his 32 career wins, good for almost a 50 percent KO rate. Only Wanderlei Silva (19) and Mirko Cro Cop (18) have more.

3 – The rebirth of Gegard Mousasi

A little more than a year ago Gegard Mousasi was KO’d by Uriah Hall and seemingly past his prime in a stacked middleweight division. But now he’s riding a two-fight win streak and is coming off a destructive first-round KO against Thiago Santos.

Mousasi is one of the most well-rounded fighters in the game. He is a savvy striker with power and pace, and he rarely gets taken down. He absorbs only 1.37 significant strikes per minute, which is good for the lowest rate among active middleweights. Plus, his elusive style allows him to out-land opponents as he’s posted a +1.69 per minute differential – good for the third-highest mark in the middleweight division.

Against Vitor Belfort in a dream of a co-main event, Mousasi is going to be up against one of the fiercest strikers in the history of the sport. Belfort has 14 career finishes, which is good for the most in UFC history.

4 – OSP back in action

Ovince Saint Preux is coming off a loss, but it’s important to remember he was facing arguably one of the greatest of all time in Jon Jones.

Saint Preux did some good things against Jones, but the tactical Jones proved to be too much in the end. Now OSP has a chance to get back to his winning ways against a hungry Jimi Manuwa.

Manuwa has lost two of his last three after winning three in a row to start his run in the UFC. A one-sided loss to Anthony Johnson was the result of his last fight and he’ll surely be looking to get back on track in England, his home country.

5 – Welterweight prospects collide

The UFC FIGHT PASS featured bout between Danny Roberts and Mike Perry is a battle between two prospects at 170 pounds who have yet to taste defeat in the UFC.

Roberts has started his UFC run with wins over Dominique Steele and a submission win against Nathan Coy. Perry is 8-0 and made his debut with a first-round KO against Hyun Gyu Lim.

Both fighters like to bang, but Roberts is probably the more technical striker. Look for Perry to bring the volume and aggression and if the fight hits the mat, it could be advantage: Roberts.

Matt Parrino is a digital producer and writer for UFC.com. Follow him on Twitter at @MattParrinoUFC

On the Rise: Up-and-comers at UFC 204

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While a rematch for the middleweight title seven years in the making headlines this weekend’s Pay-Per-View event in Manchester, England, one of the strongest subplots of this card is that UFC 204 features several promising emerging talents looking to take another step forward in their development and introduce themselves to a larger audience.

Names like Bisping, Henderson, Belfort and Mousasi are the ones that will draw people in, but don’t be surprised if some of the lesser known fighters that step into the Octagon on Saturday night make the biggest impact.

Here are three such fighters to watch out for this weekend.

This is On the Rise.

Get ready for UFC 204: Fight card | WATCH: Robin Black breaks down main event | WATCH UFC 204 Countdown: Bisping vs Henderson | Belfort vs Mousasi | Saint Preux vs Manuwa

Mirsad Bektic

If not for a serious knee injury, Bektic would probably already be someone more fans were looking at as one of the future stars of the featherweight division. Instead, the 25-year-old standout is returning for the first time since May 2015, eager to pick up where he left off and resume a rapid climb up the 145-pound ranks.

The undefeated Bektic has posted three consecutive victories inside the Octagon, winning each subsequent fight in more convincing fashion than the last. After edging out Chas Skelly in his debut, the American Top Team product mauled Paul Redmond en route to a unanimous decision before running through Lucas Martins to push his winning streak to 10.

He was scheduled to face Japanese veteran Tatsuya Kawajiri last December, but a blown ACL put him on the shelf. Bektic was tabbed as a championship-level talent as he stormed through opponents on the regional circuit and has only solidified that advanced billing since debuting in the UFC. Healthy and hungry, you can be sure Bektic will be looking to make up for lost time and make a statement in his return to the cage Saturday night in Manchester.

Davey Grant

“What happened to Davey Grant?” was one of the first things that would pop up when you would type the British bantamweight’s name into Google, but back in February, Grant returned to action for the first time in more than two years and showed that he’s someone to keep tabs on going forward with a dominant decision win over Marlon Vera.

Despite going 27 months between fights – including weighing in for a bout against Roland Delorme in London, only to have the contest scrapped less than 24 hours before the show – Grant didn’t look like he missed a beat in February, controlling the action from the outset while picking up his first UFC victory.

After beating Vera in London, the 30-year-old Grant will face Damian Stasiak in what amounts to a hometown fight for him, as the Bishop Auckland native trains at SBG Manchester and should get a quality pop from the partisan crowd at the Manchester Arena. With another win on Saturday, Grant will put himself in position to move up the ladder and face bigger names in the deep and intriguing bantamweight division heading into 2017.

Marc Diakiese

When you’re an undefeated 23-year-old that has needed a combined 60 seconds to win your last two fights, people need to be paying attention when you step into the Octagon for the first time. Diakese accomplished that feat in his wins over Rick Selvarajah and Kane Mousah, earning a call up to the big leagues.

Originally scheduled to take on Reza Madadi, the Atherton Submission Wrestling product will instead face Lukasz Sajewski after “Mad Dog” was forced off the card last week due to injury.

While it’s dangerous to look too far into the future based off a pair of blistering finishes and an unbeaten run to begin his career on the regional circuit, those recent outings – and the whole of Diakiese’s career to date – show the kind of potential the still developing fighter brings with him to the cage. Surrounded by a good camp and graced with obvious talent, he’s definitely someone to pay close attention to this weekend and a name to remember for the future.

Fight Night Portland: Fantasy Rewind

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The main event from Portland certainly did not disappoint on Saturday night, as John Lineker eked out a razor close split decision over John Dodson after five hard fought rounds.Lineker showed off an aggressive game plan as he stalked Dodson around the Octagon for all 25 minutes while throwing more than 300 significant strikes, and he never slowed down once over the course of the fight. Dodson fired back with some extremely nasty counter shots and even uncorked a pair of head kicks that landed flush, but somehow Lineker managed to walk through both of them. When it was all over, Lineker’s dogg … Read the Full Article Here
Source: ufc

Fight Night Portland bonuses: Who got $$$?

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Performance Bonuses: Nate Marquardt, Curtis Blaydes, Brandon Moreno and Henrique da Silva• Nate Marquardt’s vicious finish against Tamdan McCrory earned him a performance bonus• Curtis Blaydes got the night started with some excitement when he knocked out Cody East in Round 2 on the FIGHT PASS prelims• Current participant on this season’s The Ultimate Fighter, Brandon Moreno was a late add to Fight Night Portland after losing his fight on TUF. Moreno stunned Louis Smolka and subbed him in Round 1.• Henrique da Silva pulled off a nasty submission for his secon … Read the Full Article Here
Source: ufc

Da Silva gets another finish, Fili back in win column

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DaSILVA vs CHRISTENSENBrazilian knockout artist Henrique da Silva showed off some new wrinkles to his game in his Saturday bout against Octagon newcomer Joachim Christensen, as he survived a second-round knockdown to submit the Danish light heavyweight later in the same frame at Moda Center in Portland.
Christensen acquitted himself well in the opening round, but it was still da Silva’s frame, as he stalked and landed several hard shots, most notably a right hand the floored Christensen in the third minute. But after more punishing back and forth action in the second that marked up both … Read the Full Article Here
Source: ufc

Moreno stuns Smolka on main card

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OLIVEIRA vs BROOKSBrazil’s Alex Oliveira didn’t make weight for his lightweight bout against Will Brooks on Saturday, but in the UFC Fight Night co-main event at Moda Center in Portland, but he did pick up an important victory, taking advantage of a Brooks rib injury to punish his foe and score a third round TKO victory.Much of the first three minutes of the fight were fought to a deadlock against the fence, with Brooks breaking that tie with a takedown. Oliveira got up quickly and the two resumed their clinch battle, much to the dismay of the crowd. Oliveira did get on the board … Read the Full Article Here
Source: ufc

The 10: Big name fights coming in October

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Raise your hand if you’re surprised there are only three months left in 2016? Doesn’t it feel like UFC 200 wasn’t that long ago?It was 13 weeks ago; that’s crazy.With autumn now in full swing and the UFC at the top of the home stretch for this year, it’s time to scan the calendar for the most intriguing and compelling contests set to hit the Octagon in the month of October.This is The 10.UFC Fight Night: Lineker vs. Dodson (Saturday, October 1 – Portland, Oregon)Will Brooks vs. Alex Oliveira“Ill Will” picked up a workmanlike win over Ross Pearson … Read the Full Article Here
Source: ufc

Marquardt, Blaydes deliver big finishes in Portland

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MARQUARDT vs McCRORYMiddleweight veteran Nate Marquardt is not done yet. That was made evident in the Coloradan’s 56th pro fight Saturday night at Portland’s Moda Center, as he knocked out Tamdan McCrory in UFC Fight Night action.The fighters primarily traded kicks in the opening two minutes before Marquardt shot in and got a takedown. McCrory looked for submissions off his back, but Marquardt’s defense was airtight.McCrory began to land more shots in round two, but when “The Barn Cat” got too aggressive, Marquardt took his foe back to the mat, showing off his v … Read the Full Article Here
Source: ufc

Bader Replaces Gustafsson in Sao Paulo Main Event

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With Alexander Gustafsson forced to withdraw from his UFC Fight Night main event against Rogerio Nogueira due to injury, No. 4-ranked contender Ryan Bader has stepped up to face „Lil’ Nog“ in a rematch of their 2010 bout on November 19 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.The five-round main event, which takes place at Ginásio do Ibirapuera, will air live on FS1.A former Ultimate Fighter winner who has emerged victorious in six of his last seven bouts, Arizona’s Bader earned his first Performance of the Night bonus in his most recent bout, as he knocked out Ilir Latifi in the second round on September … Read the Full Article Here
Source: ufc

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