Thanks to a left hook followed with some more shots against the cage, Bisping knocked out Luke Rockhold in the first round to become the new middleweight champion at UFC 199 in Los Angeles on Saturday night.
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The 37-year-old Briton subdued the reigning champion, with a series of devastating head and body blows, which resulted in the fight being stopped after three minutes and 36 seconds.
Rockhold was a massive favorite in this rematch, especially given that Weidman was the initial opponent and Bisping had to step in on two weeks notice when Weidman withdrew due to injury. Still, Rockhold is the better fighter on paper and should win, but stranger things have happened.
“God. That guy [Bisping] is such a di*k”, Rockhold said.
“I picked him up off the canvas and showed him respect”, Rockhold said. That guy is a piece of s–, and I want to f– come kill him next time around.
Weidman was considered by many as one of the greatest UFC fighters ever, having defended the middleweight title 3 times after already beating Anderson Silva at UFC 162. “I should’ve fought my fight”. Rockhold had obliterated the Brit in an earlier fight and never allowed Bisping to forget it, which turned out poorly for the American.
Gold was also on the line in the co-main event as bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz took on bitter rival Urijah Faber. Instead, he says he simply underestimated Bisping’s skill-set. Every time I have a camp I talk about how I won’t over train this time but it matters so much to me that I always do. But Rockhold kept his hands down, and he paid for it with under 90 seconds left when Bisping cracked him with a flush left hand and knocked him down.
But then came the post-fight news conference and a heated exchange between the new champion and the former champion ended with Bisping calling Rockhold an anti-gay slur. Obviously I didn’t respect him enough.
“I feel so good to be able to compete again”, Cruz said. I believe in destiny and the universe pulling it altogether as I worked my entire life towards this. He was especially confident after noticing on tape that Rockhold tends to drop his right hand. I reached in with a jab and I faded out with my chin wide open and he lunged in and caught me on the tip of the chin.
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“I’m gonna be honest with you, I’m a coach”.
