BRITISH UFC middleweight champion Michael ‘The Count’ Bisping looks set for a late night scrap with old rival Dan Henderson in Manchester at a pay-per-view event at UFC 204.
Bisping became the first British athlete to capture UFC world championship gold when he stepped in at 17 days’ notice and knocked out champion Luke Rockhold in the first round at UFC 199 in Los Angeles last month.
And the Brit - who made clear immediately after his win over Rockhold he wanted his first defence in Manchester - heightened the anticipation ahead of a potential hometown first defence during an interview with The Luke Thomas Show on Wednesday.
Chatting to Thomas, Bisping laid out the details for a potential late night event in Manchester this October.
"I can confirm my next fight, I believe, will be in Manchester in October against Dan Henderson," Bisping began.
"He used to be 'Decision Dan Henderson' until he discovered testosterone replacement therapy and then he became 'Knockout Dan Henderson' and he knocked me out. And he was on testosterone replacement therapy, as I said, and I had no idea.
"And here we are, seven years later, and he's still competing in the UFC when TRT has been banned. So the guy is an absolute hypocrite.
"He was manipulating the system, he was cheating - call it what you will.
"I'm not very happy. But I get to get my revenge on an even playing field."
Bisping's quest for revenge will come at the expense of a fight with a top contender, but the Brit says those fights will follow quickly after he completes his unfinished business with 'Hendo' in Manchester.
"At UFC 100 I lost in good style - well done to him. But there were circumstances which I wasn't aware of at the time. The TRT.
"Since then that's bothered me. The fact he still fights now just confirms the fact he was manipulating the system or cheating.
"Listen, I know there are people who are definitely ahead of him in terms of rankings. But Dan Henderson is almost done. He's said he's only going to fight one more time. Those other guys, they're going nowhere.
"October is just around the corner. It's just 13 weeks until the fight. So I'll go out, I'll beat Dan Henderson, I'll pay him back for what happened in 2009.
"And whoever's next in line, they'll still be there and we can go at it, no problem."
Bisping also revealed that the fight looks set to take place in the middle of the night, with a repeat of the setup that saw Ricky Hatton face pound-for-pound boxing star Kostya Tszyu in the early hours of the morning back in 2005.
"What I'm led to believe - and again I can't confirm this - is the fight will be happening in the UK," he explained.
"It will be a pay-per-view event and we will be doing it at around four o'clock in the morning to cater to the US audience.
"Now, Ricky Hatton fought a boxer called Kostya Tszyu back in the day. That was at the Manchester Evening News Arena, and it was the same idea then. They did it for the American audience.
"And the Manchester people, they don't mind staying up late and drinking plenty of booze. The arena was sold out and there was a great atmosphere.
"So I think we're gonna do something similar in Manchester for the fight against Henderson. I'm looking forward to it. It's gonna be crazy."
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