Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
Bisping gives his best shots
Two left hooks send Brit to UFC middleweight title win
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Michael Bisping spent a decade as a contender in the UFC middleweight division without getting a title shot.
He wasn’t about to let the opportunity go to waste.
Bisping dropped champion Luke Rockhold with a left hook and landed the same punch as Rockhold got back to his feet to put him out in the first round and take the belt in the main event of UFC 199 at The Forum on Saturday night.
Bisping followed up with
three punches but Rockhold, who was leaning the cage, was already knocked out.
“Obviously, I am so happy right now,” Bisping said after becoming the first British fighter to win a UFC title. “This is my dream. Nobody was taking this away from me. “This is the greatest day of my life.” Rockhold, who won the belt from Chris Weidman in December, admitted he might have been overconfident. He was supposed to fight Weidman again, but Bisping stepped in on two weeks’ notice because of an injury.
“Congrats to Michael. He caught me. I just didn’t see it happening,” Rockhold said. “He’s a tough guy. He’s a warrior.”
Bisping was particularly proud of winning the belt with a knockout, which came at 3:36 of the first round.
“People say I don’t have punching power,” Bisping said as he viewed the replay. “I know how to punch. Check this out. First-round knockout. Left hook.”
Urijah Faber’s quest to finally win a UFC title was not as successful.
The former World Extreme Cagefighting champion fell to 0-4 in UFC title bouts, losing a unanimous decision to bantamweight champ Dominick Cruz.
Cruz won all five rounds on two scorecards and four of the five on the third, but did give his longtime rival credit for staying in the cage with him for 25 minutes.
“I’m not surprised,” Cruz said. “He’s been a champion before, and he’s tough.”
Faber said he’ll have to think about his future after another championship setback.
“First off, props to Cruz for an amazing fight,” he said. “This has been a terrific journey for me, 13 years. I can’t really say I’m going to end this journey yet, but I’m going to enjoy my time off and figure out what to do then. Right now I’m going to relax and put some ice on it.”
While there was no belt on the line, Dan Henderson delivered a performance for the ages in his middleweight fight against Hector Lombard.
The 45-year-old Olympic wrestler connected on a high kick, then followed it with a back elbow that knocked Lombard cold at 1:27 of the second round.
Henderson, who was almost knocked out in an action-packed first round, is 3-6 in his past nine fights and at the end of his contract.
After bringing his family into the cage after the bout, the former Pride and Strikeforce champion indicated he might have fought for the final time after 46 professional bouts.
“I try not to make my fights quite that epic,” Henderson said. “This is the first time all of my kids have been here to watch me fight, and I’m happy I got to share this with them. It’s definitely an emotional night, and it’s definitely a possibility that this was my last time in the octagon.
“We’ll see what happens from here.”
Featherweight Max Holloway won his ninth straight fight with a unanimous decision over former title challenger Ricardo Lamas. Holloway hasn’t lost since dropping a decision to Conor McGregor in 2013.
Holloway said after the fight he wants a title fight in his home state of Hawaii, where the UFC has not held an event.
Dustin Poirier improved to 4-0 since moving back up to lightweight with a first-round knockout of Bobby Green on the first fight of the main card.
Poirier dropped Green twice in the first round and finished him with a series of punches on the ground at 2:53.
Green appeared to be talking to Poirier between knockdowns.
“My mom told me not to curse during my interviews, so I can’t say what he said,” Poirier said. “He was just telling me I can’t punch hard. Maybe he should have brought a pillow.”
Middleweights Kevin Casey and Elvis Mutapcic fought to a split draw in the most notable fight on the preliminary card.
The bout surged in interest on Friday night because Casey is married to Hana Ali, the daughter of the late Muhammad Ali.
“It’s a lot to go through before a fight,” Casey said. “Thank you guys for the support. God bless my family.”
Brian Ortega landed a flying knee to knock out featherweight Clay Guida with 20 seconds remaining in the third round.
“I don’t know why I tend to be a slow starter,” he said. “I have to pull the inner me out.”
Lightweight Beneil Dariush knocked out James Vick in the first round of a lightweight fight, and Jessica Andrade made her strawweight debut with a second-round knockout of former title challenger Jessica Penne.
Alex Caceres, a late replacement for suspended BJ Penn, won a unanimous decision over Cole Miller in a featherweight bout.
Light heavyweight Luis Henrique da Silva knocked out Jonathan Wilson in the second round, and Marco Polo Reyes knocked out Dong Hyun Kim in the third round of a lightweight bout.
Sean Strickland won a split decision over Tom Breese in a welterweight bout.
NOTES — UFC officials announced that a rematch between Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz will take place at UFC 202 on Aug. 20. No venue was announced, but a source close to the organization said it probably would be in Las Vegas. … Also, a promo for UFC 200 shown during Saturday’s broadcast included an appearance by former heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar, who hasn’t fought since 2011. No opponent was announced, but the professional wrestling star is expected to fight on the card.