SATURDAY NEWS DIGEST 10/22: Bisping fires back at Henderson and says judges got it right, Anderson Silva endorses Hillary (w/Analysis)

By Jonathan Cervantes, MMATorch contributor

Michael Bisping after beating Luke Rockhold for the Middlweight Title at UFC 1999 (photo credit Jake Roth © USA Today Sports)

UFC Middleweight Champion Michael Bisping fired back at Dan Henderson’s criticism of the UFC 204 decision that saw Bisping emerge victorious in a closely contested bout.

Earlier this week, Henderson expressed his disdain in a blog post saying that he was “pissed” about the decision at UFC 204. Bisping, for his part, feels that Henderson is simply bitter and responded in kind. “Anybody that thinks Dan won that fight, quite frankly, you guys are crazy,” Bisping said.

Bisping also blasted any rumors of foul play occurring due to the venue in England. “Of course, Dan is going to say that because it was in England, the judges were partial to me,” he said. “They were the same judges that score many, many UFC events. It’s not like they rounded up three blokes from Manchester just for this fight. There’s a thing called an airplane, and those judges were flown out to score that bout.”

Though he criticized Henderson for casting doubt on the decision, Bisping did praise his performance in the fight but also felt that the judges made the right decision. “Dan can try to come up with whatever excuses he wants to discredit my win, the fact of the matter is, he should be gracious in defeat. I won, fair and square. He put on a great performance, I won’t deny it. Well done to you, Dan, but guess what? It just wasn’t enough. They got it right on the scorecards.”

Henderson announced ahead of time that his fight at UFC 204 would be last and Bisping has been campaigning for a bout with Chris Weidman for his next title defense.

Cervantes Analysis: Again, I doubt that the UFC will attempt to make anything out of this ongoing banter between Bisping and Henderson. Regardless of the controversy and how close the fight was, it’s time for the UFC to stop making matches that make no sense, as was the case with this bout. Henderson stated multiple times before this fight that it would be his last and Bisping has a lot of work to do in a very stacked division, so I hope that nothing extends beyond the back and forth conversations between the two.

SATURDAY NOTEBOOK ITEMS…. 

-Bloody Elbow reports that Eddie Alvarez criticized Conor McGregor’s training regiment and cardio.

-Rashad Evans told MMAJunkie that he feels rejuvenated at Middleweight and is excited for UFC 205.

-Gegard Mousasi said Conor McgGregor is “all talk,” according to MMAJunkie.

-T.J Dillashaw called Bantamweight Champion Dominick Cruz “a little b****” in an Instagram post.

-TMZ asked Anderson Silva whether he thinks Donald Trump is correct that Hillary Clinton should be tested for PEDs before the next debate. He said: “I don’t think so. I think this is terrible and definitely all bullsh–. I think Hillary is a great woman and will be a great president for United States.” Watch the endorsement of sorts here.

-The UAE Jiu-jitsu Federation (UAEJJF), the official authority for the sport for Jiu-jitsu in the United Arab Emirates, conducted the official Weigh-ins today at the Big Turtle Fukaya, ahead of the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam. Black belt world champions; Mackenzie Dern, Alexandre Ribeiro, Japanese stars Yoshi Suto and Joao Karaoke, Tiago Bravo, Felipe Pena, Michael Musumeci and all UAE National team players made weight ahead of their their highly anticipated fights. Over 500 jiu-jitsu players from across the world took part at the official Weigh-ins at the Big Turtle Fukaya.

NOW CHECK OUT YESTERDAY’S UPDATE: FRIDAY NEWS UPDATE 10/21: Henderson says he’s open to Bisping rubber match, Lesnar, Alpha Female, Jordan Parsons, Keri Melendez (w/Analysis)

FRIDAY NEWS UPDATE 10/21: Henderson says he’s open to Bisping rubber match, Lesnar, Alpha Female, Jordan Parsons, Keri Melendez (w/Analysis)


(Jonathan Cervantes has been an avid fan of MMA since 2009 when he saw GSP vs. B.J. Penn 2. He has practiced tae kwon do, jiu-jitsu, and wrestling in the past and is currently a student majoring in entrepreneurship at the University of San Francisco. He writes the MMATorch News Digest on Fridays and Saturdays. Michael Hiscoe writes MMATorch News Digests Sunday through Thursday each week.)

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