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Clearly, Michael Bisping has zero regard for sports axioms.

In fact, given suggestions that a devastating KO winner from Dan Henderson is likely to repeat the feat more quickly in a rematch, the brash Englishman promises yet another contrarian performance this weekend.

He'll defend his UFC middleweight title for the first time against long-time rival Henderson -- a second-round winner when they first met seven years ago -- atop the UFC 204 card that'll take place in the wee hours of Sunday morning from the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England.

The early UK start time will accommodate a primetime pay-per-view airing in North America.

And it'll provide Bisping a second-straight chance to vanquish a former conqueror.

"I wanted to be champion for a long time. I've achieved that," he said. "You want to be a defending champion, and now I'm doing it in my hometown. Of course there's massive pressure. You don't just want to be one and done. I don't want to be a guy that wins the belt and then loses it. Nobody wants that. I don't want him to be the guy that beat me at UFC 100 that took the belt off of me.

"That brings pressure. Fortunately, I thrive under the pressure."

Indeed, Bisping won the belt in June with an abrupt first-round destruction of Luke Rockhold, the tough-talking Californian who'd submitted him in two rounds just 19 months earlier.

A long list of suitors -- including Rockhold, former champion Chris Weidman and No. 3 contender Jacare Souza -- were angling for the first shot at the new title-holder, but Bisping announced in July that it would instead be Henderson, the 13th-ranked contender who turned 46 in late August.

Henderson stopped Hector Lombard on the undercard of Bisping's win over Rockhold.

Weidman claimed a " joke of a system" allowed him to be sidestepped, while Souza said, "If the UFC wants to honor Dan Henderson, then place him in the UFC Hall of Fame, don't steal what I won."

But Henderson, who insists he'll retire after the fight no matter the result, is not apologizing.

Rather, the former Pride and Strikeforce kingpin in savoring what he views as a victory lap.

"I probably should give more thought to it being my last fight than I do," he said.

"But really the only time I think of it is when I have to do my cardio and I think about how I won't ever have to do that again. But honestly I'm not emotional about it at all. It's just another fight and I think about what I have to do to win. I have fought for a lot of great organizations but winning the UFC belt would be a great way to finish off my career."

The Bisping-Henderson matchup will top a five-bout, pay-per-view card that will go live at 10 p.m. ET.

Also on the main show are a middleweight matchup between Vitor Belfort and Gegard Mousasi, a light heavyweight clash involving Ovince Saint Preux and Jimi Manuwa, a duel between fringe heavyweight contenders Stefan Struve and Daniel Omielanczuk and a featherweight bout between Mirsad Bektic and Russell Doane.

Fox Sports 1 will air a separate four-bout preliminary show that begins at 8 p.m.

A UFC Fight Pass early prelims show includes three more bouts and airs at 6:30 p.m.

The newly-belted Bisping is a tangible favorite in the main event. It'll take a $240 wager to return a $100 profit on him, while a $100 outlay on Henderson would return $205 for an upset.

UFC 204 main card
Favorite Challenger Weightclass
Michael Bisping (c), -240 Dan Henderson, +205 Middleweight
Gregard Mousasi, -330 Vitor Belfort, +270 Middleweight
Ovince Saint Preux, -155 Jimi Manuwa, +135 Light heavyweight
Stefan Struve, -175 Daniel Omielanczuk,+150 Heavyweight
Mirsad Bektic, -650 Russell Doane, +475 Featherweight

"I think somebody upstairs wanted this fight to happen again, and I'm just thankful for the opportunity to be able to end my career with this type of fight for the belt," Henderson said.

"I'm just honored to be here and be able to do what I love to do. I just don't want to waste this chance to walk away with accomplishing the last goal in the sport I have to achieve."

How Bisping wins: Though he's hardly a youngster at age 37, Bisping does seem to have less mileage on him and certainly appears -- based on recent exploits -- to be closer to his peak. He's the more efficient and effective, if not devastating, striker of the two and has shown pop as a middleweight.

His clearest path to victory would seem to be a tactical one, where he progressively punishes his older foe while stretching him into rounds where middle-aged cardio might become a liability.

How Henderson wins: The KO win from their first meeting is still highlight-reel worthy and Henderson, even at an advanced age, maintains the sort of power that can end a fight in an instant.

His last three wins have come by stoppages in two, one and three rounds respectively, and though his resume shows a decorated wrestling background, it would seem that finding a way to land one or more devastating strikes is still his soundest winning strategy.

Prediction: There's been nothing but an assembly line of upsets since Ronda Rousey's erasure 11 months ago at UFC 193, so lining up behind a betting favorite these days brings a unique peril.

Nevertheless, this one seems safer than most.

Bisping is no spring chicken, but he's won four fights against respectable opposition since last losing nearly two years ago -- and walks in with the additional fuel of fighting before an adoring home country crowd. Henderson, meanwhile, is closer to 50 than 40 and has been beaten in a single round twice -- by undercard fighters Belfort and Mousasi -- since Bisping last lost.

A one-shot explosion for the old-timer is always possible, but seeing Bisping battering Henderson from a distance on the way to a third-round surrender or referee intervention is far easier to forecast.