Michael Bisping is a contender for the 2016 fighter of the year following his first successful title defense, defeating Dan Henderson via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 49-46) in the main event of UFC 204 in Manchester, England.

In what turned out to be an instant classic, the 25-minute main event had all the makings of a Hollywood epic with high drama and emotion throughout. Henderson landed his patented ‘H-Bomb’ right hand not once but twice early in the fight and on both occasions came close to finishing Bisping but somehow, some way the brash Brit mustered the courage to fight back weathering the storm and getting his hand raised in victory in front of his hometown faithful.

The knockout loss Bisping suffered at the hands of Henderson at UFC 100 has been avenged but it came at a price. Whilst Henderson was able to attend the post-fight media scrum, Bisping was unavailable, having been transported to the hospital for medical attention.

He did however have some respectful words for Henderson as well as the 16,000+ fans in the Manchester Arena in his post-fight interview with Brian Stann.

“This man is incredible,” said Bisping. “He just kicked my ass. All the trash talking, you got to respect that guy, he's a legend.”

The UFC middleweight champion was then asked about the upcoming 185-pound fights; Weidman vs. Romero and Rockhold vs. Jacare and who he’d like to fight next. In vintage form Bisping then produced a promo cutting his middleweight rivals.

“All you f*ckers who are in the rest of the division,” said Bisping “Weidman, what the hell? You lost your last fight. I’ve had three victories since you got your ass kicked by Luke Rockhold. Rockhold, I knocked you out in three minutes, buddy. Yoel Romero, you’re suspended for steroids! Shame on you. All of you win a fight, get off the couch, and let’s f*cking do this.”

Henderson meanwhile formerly announced his retirement and thanked his fans for the support they’d given him over the years.

“I gave my heart and soul to this sport, you made it worthwhile to keep competing year after year,” said Henderson. “I absolutely love the sport. And I want to say thank you to the fans for making this fight happen and thank you to Bisping for giving me this opportunity. My last fight for a belt I came up a little short, but not bad for an old man.”

With a victory over arguably one of the greatest of all time in Anderson Silva, followed by a knockout win over Luke Rockhold to claim the middleweight championship and now avenging his loss to Dan Henderson, Michael Bisping is sure fire contender to claim fighter of the year 2016.

UFC 204 had an attendance of over 16,000 providing the promotion with a $1.96m gate. Fight of the night honours went to Bisping vs. Henderson and performance of the night bonuses went to Iuri Alcantara and Jimi Manuwa.

Here’s the full UFC 204 results

Main card

Michael Bisping defeated Dan Henderson via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 49-46)
Gegard Mousasi defeated Vitor Belfort via second round TKO
Jimi Manuwa defeated Ovince Saint Preux via second round KO
Stefan Struve defeated Daniel Omielanczuk via second round submission (D'arce Choke)
Mirsad Bektic defeated Russell Doane via first round submission (RNC)

Undercard

Iuri Alcantara defeated. Brad Pickett via first round submission (Triangle Choke)
Damian Stasiak defeated Davey Grant via third round submission (Arm-Bar)
Leon Edwards defeated Albert Tumenov via third round submission (Rear-Naked Choke)
Marc Diakiese defeated Lukasz Sajeweski via second round TKO
Mike Perry defeated Danny Roberts via third round KO
Leonardo Santos defeated Adriano Martins via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)