Bisping KOs Rockhold, claims middleweight title
Michael Bisping made the most of his rare crack at UFC glory, knocking out Luke Rockhold in the first round yesterday to claim the middleweight crown in UFC 199 at The Forum in Inglewood, California.
Relying on just a two-week preparation after receiving the call to replace an injured Chris Weidman, Bisping stunned Rockhold and the mixed martial arts world, knocking down his fancied rival midway through the round with a left hand to the jaw of the backpedalling champion.
Rockhold bounced back and slugged it out with Bisping, who came through with another solid left hand to send him down again, this time for good with 1:24 left in the round.
Always a contender but never a challenger, the 37-year-old Englishman fighter thus improved his record to 30-7 (win-loss) including 26 fights on the UFC octagon.
But none of it was bigger than his victory over Rockhold.
“I am so happy right now,” said an emotional Bisping, who waited 10 years and 26 fights to get a chance for a UFC title.
“I’ve always been a fighter and it always got me in trouble, but there’s nothing I do better in this life than fighting. I’m an average guy, this is my dream. Nobody was taking this away from me,” he added.
Just like that, the fighter known as “The Count” became middleweight king. Rockhold, 31, slipped to 15-3. Bisping received an extra $50,000 performance for the first round stoppage.
Meanwhile, Dominick Cruz bested Urijah Faber in the trilogy with a uinanimous decision win to retain the bantamweight crown. After several delays, the much-awaited rematch between Nate Diaz and Conor McGregor is finally pushing through.
UFC yesterday officially announced the rematch between Diaz and McGregor that was stricken off UFC 200 card on July 9. It will instead take place in UFC 202 on Aug. 20 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. “The rematch is coming! # UFC202: @ Nate
Diaz209 vs @TheNotoriousMMA 2 8/20/16,” said UFC on its official Twitter account, @ufc.
McGregor, the reigning featherweight champion, fought and lost to the heavier Diaz, a late replacement, at UFC 196 in Las Vegas last March 5.
It was a match McGregor, who knocked out Jose Aldo in 13 seconds to emerge featherweight king, was winning after bloodying Diaz’s face in the opening round before losing steam, enabling the latter strike back and steal the win with a rear-naked choke submission in the second round.
The McGregor-Diaz was supposed to take place at UFC 200 but the Dublin-based fighter known as “The Notorious” complained he was tired with the fight outfits promotional tour, forcing UFC to cancel it.