Michael Bisping survived some scares to hold on to his middleweight belt at UFC 204 in Manchester, but not everyone called the fight for the Brit.
After his unanimous decision victory over Dan Henderson – with the judges calling it 48-47, 48-47 and 49-46 in his favour, Bisping called out a large chunk of the division, calling on Chris Weidman, Yoel Romero and others to up their game.
And, while Weidman is set on defeating Romero at UFC 205 and earning a chance at a title shot against Bisping, he doesn’t even believe the Lancastrian should have been declared the victor at the Manchester Arena.
That moment you make history and win a record 20th @ufc fight! 🇬🇧🙌 #UFC204 https://t.co/teDrbmOLql
— UFC on TNT Sports (@ufcontnt) October 9, 2016
I scored it for Henderson. I thought Henderson won the first round, it could have been 10-8 – I think at least one of the judges should have given that, I don’t know why that wasn’t even a thought,” Weidman told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour.
“Someone said that guy probably had that in his head before the fight, and told himself ‘alright, after I dominate Dan Henderson I’m going to get on the mic and call out all these four guys to say these things about them, and I’m going to look really cool’…but he shouldn’t have done that when he barely beat [Henderson].
“I really thought Dan Henderson should have got his hand raised, so for [Bisping] to get on the mic, I was embarrassed for him.”
Michael Reaves/Getty Images
Weidman, who said he doesn’t want to look beyond his fight with Romero, seemed to disagree with at least one of the judges when it came to the second round in Manchester.
Bisping spent most of the five minutes on top, but was knocked down by an overhand right, a weapon which Weidman says he “couldn’t figure out a way to get out of the way of”.
“I think if you almost finish the fight then you’ve won the round, I don’t care how long you were losing the round – he was never in danger in the second round so I thought he won that,” the New Yorker said.
Bisping’s next fight will likely come against either the winner of Weidman-Romero or whoever comes out on top when former champ Luke Rockhold faces Jacare Souza in Melbourne next month.
But based on how unimpressed Weidman was with the current champion’s first defence, the prospect of a meeting with The Count clearly isn’t something he’s afraid of.
Catch up with the latest episode of Football Friday Live:
