The Englishman has been fighting in the UFC for a decade without winning the title and was defeated by Rockhold by submission in November 2014.
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Michael Bisping became the first British UFC champion last night when he stunned Luke Rockhold with a first round knockout to win the middleweight championship. As Rockhold was sitting against the cage, Bisping continued to throw punches until John McCarthy stepped in to stop the fight. Rockhold, not moderating his rhetoric after the loss, called the new champion a “d-“, a “piece of s-“, and a “maggot” at the postfight presser.
“I want to be an (expletive), but I gotta be humble”, Bisping (29-7) said.
Michael Bisping had a little more than two weeks to prepare for his long-awaited first Ultimate Fighting Championship title shot. “I mean you show your true colours after a fight, and that f***ing guy comes up to me and says “you know who you are”.
“Some of our guys, and I have said some things that make it look like we’re homophobes”, White said in 2013. “He’s just a maggot”.
“I took him for granted”, the 31-year-old said. “I maybe took it for granted”.
Rockhold was originally slated to face former titleholder Chris Weidman, but Weidman was forced out of the rematch due to a neck injury.
The assumption might be that Rockhold will get a rematch with Bisping but champing at the bit is No.6 ranked middleweight contender, Australia’s Robert Whittaker, who quickly tweeted “I’m coming”, after Bisping knocked Rockhold out.
“I guess destiny is real, but it’s not going to last very long… I should’ve fought my fight”.
Bisping’s victory – his fourth in a row since losing to Rockhold two years ago – earned him Performance of the Night honors and a $50,000 bonus. ‘I’ve fought the best in the world.
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Read the transcript of the post fight press conference confrontation, or watch the video from the 11:40 min mark, below. Bisping said in reference to his huge UFC 199 victory and a sparring session between the two that he’s referred to in the past. “Give your respect, don’t be a smug dick about it”, Rockhold said. “And you being the dick you are, came up to me and was a bitch about it”. “When I did that I actually allowed myself so much relaxation of my mind and so much relaxation for my body to heal, that I actually got back to where I need to in order to be myself again”.
