Michael Bisping Explains Why He Wants Dan Henderson Rematch

After upsetting Luke Rockhold with a vicious first round knockout at June 4’s UFC 199 to become the undisputed 185-pound champion, Michael Bisping turned some heads when he expressed interest in first defending his title against 45-year-old No. 13-ranked Dan Henderson, but “The Count” was granted his wish, as the bout was recently confirmed for October 8’s UFC 204 from Manchester, England.

The two first met back at 2009’s UFC 100 where Henderson scored one of the most iconic knockouts of all-time. With that being said, it’s clear that Bisping is out for revenge, but that isn’t the only reason he requested the fight.

Recently speaking on the matter, Bisping reminisced on the now infamous testosterone-replacement-therapy (TRT) era, saying that he didn’t even know what it was or that “Hendo” was on it. The substance has since been banned, but “The Count” feels as if Henderson had an unfair advantage the first time around:

“That is the main reason [why I want to fight him] — because, I didn’t even know TRT existed. I had no idea he was on it or that it even existed, so I went into that fight not knowing that,” he admitted to DailyStar. “Of course, now TRT is not allowed and he’s still fighting so that was all bullshit that clearly proves it was bullshit and system manipulation.”

Despite his reasoning, Bisping has received criticism for asking for the fight due to Henderson’s age and the fact that he’s lost three of his last five, but “The Count” says that the former Olympian is still knocking people out:

“I know he’s an older man now, but I still owe him one,” he said. “He’s still knocking people out so let’s do it.”

Henderson is indeed coming off of a brutal stoppage victory over Hector Lombard this past June. How do you see the rematch between him and Bisping playing out?