Saturday night's battle between Michael Bisping and Dan Henderson at UFC 204 became an instant classic in Manchester, England. The middleweight champion weathered some stern adversity in the early goings, but Bisping was able to dig in and find his range. The end result saw the Englishman take the unanimous decision victory over the 46-year-old legend, but the closeness of the fight sparked an intense debate across social media platforms.

While Bisping's first successful title defense won't be found on this list, one of "The Count's" earlier bouts in the UFC certainly did. 

They say to never leave the fight in the hands of the judges. It's one of the most overused clichés in mixed martial arts, but not without reason as evidenced by these five controversial victories.

5. Frankie Edgar def. B.J. Penn (2010) | UFC 112

Photo credit: © Gary A. Vasquez

Many believe Frankie Edgar's victory over then-lightweight champion BJ Penn shouldn't be considered an upset. After their bout, Edgar went on to defeat Penn and rack up wins over a who's-who at 155 and 145 pounds. Meanwhile, Penn moved up to welterweight, where he found little success before making the drop down to featherweight to unsuccessfully challenge Edgar again.

But all of that could have ended before it started if the judges scored the first fight correctly.

During the bout, Edgar relied on his speed, feints, and footwork to keep Penn off-balance. He also successfully scored the fight's lone takedown in final frame. But Penn connected more power shots throughout and even found a home for a left jab during 25 minutes of action. In the end, Penn connected more significant strikes than Edgar in three of the five rounds.

But what makes this decision even more controversial is judge Douglas Crosby scored all five rounds (WHAT?) for Edgar, while Sal D'Amato scored it 48-47 and Andy Roberts had it 49-46.

4. Lyoto Machida def. Shogun Rua (2009) | UFC 104

Photo credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Heading into their title fight at UFC 104, the riddle that was reigning UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida had yet to be solved. With victories over Tito Ortiz, Thiago Silva, and Rashad Evans, the Machida era was in full swing and showed no signs of slowing down.

While his reign of terror eventually came to an end at UFC 113, it should have come one fight sooner against Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. During their title fight, Rua battered Machida's leg for 25 straight minutes. While Machida landed strong kicks, his trademark counterpunching was essentially nullified by Rua's hyper-aggressive Muay Thai attacks.

As the champion bled from the mouth, fans witnessed the demoralized champion caught with his hands down as his legs took the brunt of the attack. Machida even lowered his head in defeat as the two fighters waited for the judges' scorecards to be read.

But then it was revealed that all three judges scored it 48-47 for Machida. Even Rua questioned the score as he famously asked, "What can I do?" Well, for one, he could have knocked him out cold, which is exactly what he did in their immediate rematch to earn UFC gold.

3. Leonard Garcia def. Nam Pham (2010) | TUF 12 Finale

Photo credit: © Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Leonard Garcia is certainly no stranger to controversial decisions (​WEC 48 comes to mind).

Leveraging a crowd-pleasing style of biting down on his mouthpiece and throwing nothing but haymakers, Garcia has perpetuated the illusion he's battering his opponents inside the cage. In reality, most of these punches, if they actually land, are glancing blows at best.

This was most evident in his fight against Nam Phan at "The Ultimate Fighter 12" finale. Phan worked the the body in the second frame with crisp combos before he dropped his opponent with a stiff side-kick to the midsection. Garcia was punching nothing but air.

In the end, Phan out-landed Garcia 102 to 64 in significant strikes. This should have been a no-brainer decision win for Phan, but two of the judges actually scored it 29-28 in favor of Garcia, much to the chagrin of the crowd in attendance.

2. Michael Bisping def. Matt Hamill (2007) | UFC 75

Photo credit; © Per Haljestam-USA TODAY Sports

Before he was champion, Michael Bisping's "victory" over Matt Hamill propelled him from the controversial fighter everyone loved to hate to the fighter people genuinely loathed.

Many thought Hamill, a legitimate wrestler, would have to turn the fight into a gritty grappling match in order to win. But the deaf fighter surprised everyone, especially Bisping, when he exploded out of the gate and rocked his British foe with a powerful right hand.

What followed was one of the most impressive performances of Hamill's career. He not only outlanded Bisping on his feet, but Hamill also secured a pair of takedowns in the opening frame.

Bisping eventually regained his form in the next two rounds, but Hamill scored two takedowns in both the second and third frames while keeping up with his opponent's trademark pace on his feet. So when the judges read the decision and awarded Bisping the split decision, even his hometown crowd in England voiced their displeasure by showering him in boos. While Hamill was humble in defeat, the same can't be said for the livid Bisping.

"Do you want to go three rounds? Of course I won the decision," Bisping said in his post-fight interview. "Get the [expletive] out of here. Get that smile off your face."

1. Diego Sanchez def. Ross Pearson (2014) | UFC Fight Night 42

Jun 7, 2014; Albuquerque, NM, USA; Diego Sanchez (red) and Ross Pearson (blue) fight during their lightweight bout during UFC Fight Night 42 at Tingley Coliseum. Sanchez won via split decision. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Let's take a look at everything Ross Pearson did against Diego Sanchez, shall we?

Landed more strikes in every single round: Check.

Scored the only knockdown of the fight: Check

Secured the only takedown of the fight: Check.

Majority cage control: Check.

Bled less while causing his opponent to bleed more: Double check.

The only thing Sanchez did better than Pearson was scream at the top of lungs to bait his opponent into one of his signature slugfests. He was essentially Leonard Garcia before Leonard Garcia was in the UFC. So it would only make sense for the British fighter to go on and earn the dominant decision win, right?

Oh, if only that were the case and MMA judging made sense.

As Pearson was getting ready to celebrate his victory, the smile quickly fell from his face as the judges awarded Sanchez the split decision. One judge scored it 30-27 for Sanchez. That's right, folks: One judge awarded Sanchez all three rounds after getting crushed for 15 straight minutes.  

Maybe his poker face hid the damage well; maybe it was the fact Sanchez was fighting in his hometown of Albuquerque. Nobody's quite sure what two of those judges were watching. But the one thing we do know is Sanchez did not win that fight.

"Insanity, man," UFC President Dana White said following the decision. "Pearson got robbed. Pearson won that fight clearly. He easily won that fight. We have to treat Pearson like he won and give him that next-level fight."