UFC London: Michael Bisping edges Anderson Silva in classic at the O2

The Mancunian fighter claimed a famous victory over his legendary opponent

British UFC fighter Michael Bisping (Getty Images)

16,734 people inside the O2 Arena witnessed one of the greatest ever fights on English soil when Michael 'The Count' Bisping defeated the legendary Brazilian Anderson Silva via a unanimous decision on Saturday night.

Speaking at the post-event press conference, James Elliott, the UFC’s vice president and general manager for the Europe, Asia and Middle East regions, announced that the event had set an all-time high record for the viewership on the UFC's online platform 'Fight Pass' and had taken an impressive live gate of $2 million.

The night was a resounding success for the UFC with records broken and fans leaving the arena all talking about the main event that had both epic action and a fairytale ending for their hometown favourite.

All round satisfaction looked far from guaranteed though prior to the main event. Up until the opening chords of Blur's 'Song 2', Bisping's entrance music, the crowd in the O2 Arena didn't seem to be totally invested in the evening.

Disregarding the pops for Scott Askham's stunning KO of Chris Dempsey and Brad Pickett sealing an emotional victory, the crowd seemed to be sitting almost in nervous anticipation of the main event to come the entire night.

Speaking as a member of the media who has been to all the UFC European shows plus a few in the US and Australia in the past two years, the atmosphere in London at times felt subdued and being totally honestly it didn't hold a candle to the rampant evenings recently witnessed at UFC Glasgow or UFC Dublin in 2014 and 2015.

There are, however, a few explanations as to why the crowd behaved like they did last evening. As mentioned, the evening had a massive main event and the entire promotional build-up to fight night purely focused on Bisping vs Silva. The fight was the talk of the town all week and from the media day to the weigh-ins most cameras pointed at the two opposing veterans who were sharing the headline slot on the fight card.

Another factor would have been the fact that only three of the fights on the night saw finishes and two of them came very early on in the card. Eight fights going to decisions is never a good recipe for success and not all of them were the standard of Bisping versus Silva.

Nerves will have also played a part in the subdued atmosphere as some of the Brits on the card faced tough nights against some tricky opponents. Pickett, Allen, Grant ground out impressive but hard fought grinding victories against tough opposition.

Tom Breese, who was the strongest favourite on the card, was also given a much tougher night than expected against the highly durable and plucky Keita Nakamura in what will no doubt prove to be a valuable lesson for the man from Birmingham.

That said, the O2 Arena did come alive for Bisping and Silva and so they really should have given the epic drama they were treated to. The bout, full of controversy, talking points, blood, sweat and tears ended with the Mancunian Bisping scaling the cage with his hands aloft in victory saluting the 16,734 in attendance.

For this reason alone, the night was one to remember but perhaps next time the UFC visit London the crowd should really take some notes from the Irish and Scottish UFC who were vocal the entire evening and enjoyed the entire experience.

Speaking of the Irish, next week it's off to Las Vegas for the next chapter in Conor McGregor's unbelievable UFC journey. No doubt a fair few thousand Irish fans will be making the trip across the Atlantic once again to cheer on their man when he faces Nate Diaz next Saturday at UFC 196. I doubt they will need any encouragement to raise the roof.