5 insane "come back from the dead" victories in UFC history
Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is a momentum based sporting contest. Unlike your run-of-the-mill action movies, recovering from a one-sided beatdown in an MMA fight and staging a heroic comeback is a near-impossible feat to accomplish.
That said, a rare group of elite fighters have managed to pull off improbable come-from-behind feats, snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) being the world’s premier MMA organisation boasts an elite line-up of such ‘comeback kings’ on its roster.
A few such notable iron-willed fighters and their jaw-dropping performances have been listed below-
#5 Michael Bisping survives the ‘H-bomb’
Michael ‘The Count’ Bisping (30-7) is the current UFC Middleweight champion with an MMA base of kickboxing, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) and karate. One of the most well-rounded MMA fighters, Bisping is the UFC’s first British world champion.
Dan ‘Hendo’ Henderson (32-15) is a former Pride FC Welterweight and Middleweight champion, UFC 17 Middleweight tournament winner and a former Olympic wrestler. Hendo has an MMA base of wrestling and possesses lethal one-punch KO power.
Bisping and Henderson first fought at UFC 100 in 2009, with Hendo scoring a highlight-reel KO over Bisping. Their paths crossed again after Bisping took the UFC Middleweight title off Luke Rockhold at UFC 199.
Hendo got a shot at Bisping’s strap at UFC 204 and the two career-long rivals delivered an instant classic. Hendo caught Bisping with the same overhand right that he had knocked him out with in their first fight. Hendo knocked Bisping down and proceeded to swarm him with ground-and-pound.
Bisping survived and toward the end of the end 2nd round, got knocked down yet again by the ‘H-bomb’. Bisping was almost finished twice within the span of 10 minutes.
Edged on by his hometown crowd in Manchester, England, Bisping rallied and outpointed Hendo for the better part of the final 3 rounds of this insane slobber knocker.
In the end, the judges awarded Bisping a unanimous decision, and the bloody and battered champion defended his strap for the first time whilst simultaneously overcoming the haunting memories of his UFC 100 KO at the hands of Henderson.
An innings well-played by the British legend.