Bisping on Dan Henderson title fight: “Don’t call it a rematch!”

Dan Henderson’s thunderous knockout of Michael Bisping back at UFC 100 is a highlight that the newly-crowned middleweight champ would like to forget. That fateful right hand replayed for years as one of the most infamous KOs in recent memory, but Bisping will have the chance to flip that script at UFC 204, where ‘Hendo’ and ‘The Count’ will once again do battle.

But according to Bisping himself, don’t call it a rematch:

“I’d like to remind everybody that (Henderson) was enhanced in our first fight,” Bisping said during a press conference on Sunday.

“I don’t even consider this fight a rematch, because the two different versions of ourselves are so completely different. I’m much better and more improved mentally and physically. Dan Henderson is kind of the opposite. He’s off the steroids, he’s older. And if you look at his body, the muscle mass between the first fight compared to now, it looks like to different fighters.”

“So it’s almost unfair to call this a rematch. It’s Michael Bisping in 2016 versus Dan Henderson in 2016.”

“It’s two completely different fights.”

Since their first encounter in 2010, Bisping has captured the 185 pound belt after brutally knocking out former champ Luke Rockhold in the first round of their UFC 199 main event bout in June.

Bisping has yet to defend the belt, however, making Henderson his first title defense since winning the middleweight strap.

Meanwhile, ‘Hendo’ is coming off of an incredible come-from-behind victory after knocking out Hector Lombard at UFC 199 with a head-kick/elbow combination that flatlined Lombard in the second round.

Prior to the Lombard fight, Henderson had dropped a dismal six out of eight fights, with three of those losses coming by way of knockout.

Do you consider the Bisping vs. Henderson rematch to be comparable to their first bout at UFC 100? Or is the champion correct in saying the two fighters are completely different than they were six years ago? Will Bisping avenge his most brutal loss and defend the middleweight title? Sound off, PENN Nation!