Ultimate Fighting Championship

Michael Bisping's first title defense sells out ridiculously fast

Published Nov. 15, 2016 2:13 p.m. ET

Jonathan Bradley

It looks like Michael Bisping will make his first UFC title defense in front of a full house as UFC officials announced Friday morning that his rematch with Dan Henderson at UFC 204 sold out the Manchester Arena in just six minutes.

Bisping will be fighting in front of a hometown crowd for the event, so it’s no surprise that tickets were in high demand. But because the event is being held super early in the morning in Manchester so that fans in the U.S. can watch during regular pay-per-view hours, the promotion tempered its expectations.

“We’re thrilled to see this kind of demand for tickets in the UK. With a stacked card and a UK champion in the main event, this really is a night of sporting action you can’t miss.” UFC EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) General Manager and Vice President James Elliot said.

“Given the timings of the event we realize this wasn’t an easy event to commit to, so as tickets have sold at this incredible rate, we have to say thank you to everyone for their enthusiasm to be ‘Up all night for the fight!’. We can’t wait for the event and look forward to sharing the amazing experience with our fans.”

Tickets went on sale Friday morning at 5 AM EST and were all 21,000 were gone by 5:06, which surely helped ease the promotion’s concerns about timing.

Bisping won his first UFC title in June after more than a decade of fighting under the UFC banner, and his fans back home are obviously eager to see him defend his belt on home soil.

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