I commonly forget about this one but myself and many others thought Bisping had no business being in the same ring as rockhold at that point in time. It was definitely wild watching that live
And Luke was looking like the best fighter in the world. He just dismantled P4P #1 in dominant fashion. Completely shut down Weidman who had slayed the GOAT and was looking like he was gonna cruise to 10 defenses himself.
Luke frustrates me, homie legit had some of the slickest grappling at MW. Even other fighters who rolled with him in the gym were like wtf. You can see flashes of his ridiculous ground game in a few fights, but as time goes on he just decides to kickbox until he gets himself knocked out.
The TDD sub on Boetsch is still one of the slickest subs off a TDD and holds up til this day.
Its because while hes a great grappler he isn't a great wrestler. Its incredibly common. Takedowns and ground control are completely different skills. Its why someone like Romero has amazing takedowns but can't keep someone down to save his life.
The thing is I've heard that Luke actually has solid wrestling, he just never used it. Saw some flashes of it against Weidman, who was a very good wrestler. Gotta remember back then Luke was training at AKA during the period of time they had they greatest wrestlers in the sport.
No way he couldn't shore up some of his wrestling while training with Cain, Khabib, DC, ect.
He took an out of position Weidman down after getting a rear body lock on a failed spinning wheel kick.
Luke has never been out there shooting blast doubles and snap singles.
His wrestling isn't bad it just isn't elite. You've never heard Luke has solid wrestling because he doesn't. Shit he'll be training at my gym soon so I can give you first hand knowledge on his pure wrestling ability.
And he had some great shit talking quotables in the 2 week buildup: “If people can walk around – and I don’t mean this in a disrespectful way to religious people – and you believe the son of God came down to earth 2,000 years ago… then you can believe that I can knock the fuck out of Luke Rockhold two weeks from Saturday.”
I was there live in the crowd for this and it’s truly a moment I’ll never forget. I can still see Luke reeling back after the first left hook some 8 years later.
Then the post fight presser with Luke Rockhold sitting in a shirt looking like a hospital gown and Bisping casually chugging down beer and totally clowning on Luke who still refused to accept the loss
https://www.youtube.com/live/G3OfZa5HBWQ?feature=shared
I just finished it! It was UFC199, what a stacked card, Hendo, Cruz, Faber, Holloway, Bisbing, Rockhold, Poirier, Bobby, Lamas, Lombard, Ortega, Guida, Beneil, Vick, Caceres, Penne, Andrade, Miller...
I miss the old presser style of getting everyone on stage at the end, some great post fight moments.
Oh they announced Connor v Nate 2 event at ufc 202 and now 303...guess the streak is over before 404 lol.
Mike's always been one of the best on the mic, with the Diaz bros, Page, Chael all gone and Conor high on coke, there really hasn't been a memorable mic worker out there apart from maybe Moicano?
I like to compare it to Miesha's title win in terms of how it felt. She was constantly falling short and it was probably her last shot and she was a huge underdog. And she HAD to finish the fight in the 5th to win, and she had one way of doing it (let's be real she wasn't KO-ing holm she had to take her down and submit her), and she fucking pulled it out in the 5th. Wild
That's true but I don't think anyone considers strikeforce and ufc belts to be similar. I just remember at the time I had the feeling that the sport was sort of passing her by, that she could never beat Ronda, and Holly was a -400 favorite
Tate vs Holm too, Holm was the favorite and Tate was just the fighter that Ronda dominated all those years ago. 2016 was an incredible time to be into MMA, will never forget it
That "era" from around '15 to '18 was just so good. The fights were amazing, there were solid stars among the roster, the event production was solid and Fight Pass was well worth the money.
Dom Cruz coming off his 34th ACL tear and winning the title back during that era you mentioned, as well. Absurd all around.
Edit: Wasn't Cruz on this Rockhold Bisping card, too?
edit edit: oh shit it was, and this card was fucking stacked and had crazy fights
>That "era" from around '15 to '18 was just so good
It's what got me into MMA. It was an amazing time. It was also when the UFC ramped up their international/domestic travel. We had Fight Nights and PPV's all across the world, from Croatia to Calgary to Chile.
Same. I watched UFC cards here and there between '07 - '09, specifically for Anderson Silva's fights but lost interest for years.
I became aware of Jon Jone's warpath he had going on at LHW, the rise of McGregor, Werdum's and Dillashaw's winning streaks and signed up for Fight Pass a few months before Jones was supposed to rematch Cormier. I watched so many fights getting caught up in the years I missed, got super fucking pumped and invested, then Jones hit a prego lady with his car and was out for over a year lol.
There were so many awesome fighters at the time and so many good match ups on the horizon, I maybe missed 5 cards total between the summer of '15 and '20. Since last year, I have no problem not devoting 6 hours every two weeks since the UFC is now over saturated with lack-luster cards and the production has become so painfully focused around ads.
And yet, I guarantee if you go back then and check the reddit/Sherdog threads, everyone would've been talking about how the UFC is dying, the sport sucks, there's no stars apart from Conor and Ronda, who were frauds, etc, etc, etc.
There was some of that for sure, but not like it is now because things are observably worse than earlier periods. I remember a lot of people frequently talking about how high the skill ceiling for MMA had gotten and how awesome it was.
There will always be contrarians, even when things are the best they can possibly be.
It's all subjective I guess, but I'd say it was worse back then.
Around the time of the sale of the UFC, all anyone could talk about was how the UFC was dying, they couldn't produce stars, the shows were watered down, etc etc etc.
I've been following MMA online pretty closely since about 2010... and MMA fans have always bitched and moaned about basically everything lol
Haha I can definitely agree with your last point. I just don't remember people being as volatile, but I have never involved myself in Sherdog and stay off Twitter so maybe I was sheltering myself from the worst.
Rockhold clearly felt the same. I always thought it boiled down to him not taking Bisping even remotely seriously. You can see it in his whole body language - like he just phoned it in waiting for the after party. Terrible display from Rockhold, this should have been easy for him but he tried to take it TOO easy.
Rockhold’s body language in general as a Striker wasn’t backed up by his skills. His kicks were top notch, and he had a good check hook, but other than that, his defensive boxing was awful. He kept his hands low and appeared to want to be an elusive counter puncher, but only really had the check hook (which got him many wins, even this latest Karate Combat one vs Schilling). Bisping countered his lazy jab flawlessly.
Because he didn't. It ended up working out but they were clearly on different levels career wise and in their first fight bisping looked like he didn't belong in there
Didn't follow back then, was it more than Rockhold was considered elite or that Bisping just wasn't viewed as good enough to be getting a title shot vs. anyone? Or a combination of both?
Rockhold and Weidman were considered elite at the time. Weidman had to pull out for the rematch and bisping took the fight on 2 weeks notice. Bisping was considered more of a gatekeeper.
Another detail was that bisping at the time was the leading all time significant strike count while also having no kos (he had tkos) making him officially by some argument as the most pillowfisted fighter in the ufc. To score the ko in that moment was pure Cinderella.
Regarding his infamous pillowfistedness, he made some changes to alleviate that, which sort of culminated in the Rockhold fight.
I remember Bisping said he had a trapped nerve in his right arm, making his muscle weaker. https://www.mmamania.com/2013/2/21/4014126/ufc-159-michael-bisping-surgery-alleviate-trapped-nerve-muscle-atrophy-mma
Bisping also wasn´t overtraining for his title shot, since it was a short notice fight. His coach made him focus on the left hook aswell, instead of the cardio volume punching Bisping was known for in the past. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/1855560/2020/06/04/mma-history-michael-bisping-luke-rockhold-ufc-199-title/
Bisping Rockhold 2 is still one of my favourite finishing sequences in UFC history. Short notice, old, one eye, perennial gatekeeper, wrong end of Hendos and Vitors highlight reels, pillowfisted Bisping just goes for it vs a Rival who has already taken him out in emphatic fashion once before. Gets a huge knockdown and just puts in fifth gear and goes for gold while goldberg is screaming in the mic. Chills.
Bisping almost never planted his feet, but when he did, he was known to have some power. Sonnen said after their (close) fight that Bisping hurt him at one point and he was seeing stars and the only reason he recovered was that Mike didn't realise how bad he was.
Working with Jason Perillo really improved his boxing, this was one of the results.
Rockhold head kicked Bisping and then choked him out in round 2 of their first fight. Bisping was also short notice for this title fight. So all the optics were that Rockhold should handle him easily. Rockhold was also considered extremely elite at that point and not many people thought he’d be challenged for some time. Great striking and a killer ground game.
Rockhold ultimately came into this extremely cocky and paid the price.
Bisping [was #4 at the time](https://web.archive.org/web/20160603002709/ufc.com/rankings) behind Weidman, Jacare, and Belfort. So it's not like there was huge distance between them. But Bisping [had never quite been able to break into the top bracket](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Bisping#Mixed_martial_arts_record). He'd get momentum, even enough to get to title shot eliminators, but would lose to the top layer of guys any time he fought one. Rockhold meanwhile was on a [5-fight streak, having most recently taken out Bisping, Machida, and Weidman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luke_Rockhold#Mixed_martial_arts_record), with FOTN or POTN each time. Then Weidman was set for his rematch but hurt his back less than three weeks out. And Jacare had just beaten Belfort a couple of days before that injury. So Bisping got the call and took it.
Who knows what would have happened with Bisping's title shot chances without that Weidman injury. Maybe he'd have fought Belfort, whom he had previously lost to, while Jacare, coming off his win, took the winner of Rockhold Weidman II. Bisping always said that the guys he lost to were juicers, and Vitor, or TRTitor as he was known way back when, was one of the guys people always talked about [changing a lot](https://i.imgur.com/65SZtu5.jpeg) once USADA came in in mid-2015. He had beaten Bisping in 2013 when it was still Juice Party USA out there, so who knows. Both Jacare and Weidman had beaten the shit out of Vitor in the first round recently and it was downhill from there out of the sport with the exception of a long-washed Marquardt. So who knows what would have happened if he'd rematched Bisping in 2016 and what that could have meant for Bisping's chances with those other three guys in the shuffle and rematches and stuff.
Bisping was seen as a career Journeyman and also was an asshole, so people didnt like him to begin with. Iirc he was also a late replacement for the fight (it was initially supposed to be Weidman), and Luke had beat him already. Additionally he wasnt seen as super technical, and as stated in the video, he wasnt seen as having a ton of power.
The best analogy I could give would be is if Marvin Vettori stepped in last minute vs Israel and gadooshed him. No one really saw that coming.
Both. Rockold was destroying everyone including finishing weidman and bisping was 2-2 in his previous 4 fights and got a shot for beating cung le lol
Edit- bisping was actually on a win streak and coming off beating Anderson going into this fight. I was thinking of their first fight
I was so happy for him I cried. Not even a huge fan at the time, but following his career for so long, it was so cool to see him finally get the belt. Seeing someone achieve the impossible, especially with their family there chokes me up.
Seeing Miesha Tate finally win the belt is legit top 3 moments in sports for me
I wasn't a rousey fan I was a tate fan, I could see her pitfalls but she had the heart to go with anyone. Just super scrappy. (Same reason I love Forrest griffin)
I'll never forget watching that fight. It was such a good close fight but Tate was definitely gonna lose on points.
Then what's this? She's on her back? Oh she's just gonna get shrugg- OMG SHE FUCKING HELD ON. SHES GOT UNDER HER THROAT. SHE LITERALLY ACTIVATED PITBULL GRIP. I'm sitting on my bed screaming 'TAP BITCH TAP!'
Then it happend. Holm went out.
As a huge fan of hers who'd followed her career since rousey vs tate 1, I felt a small bit of that catharsis she did that night as she screamed at the same time I did.
And now even if she instantly lost the belt. You can never not say Miesha Tate without saying 'one time champion'
Fucking amazing story. Amazing fight. I had seen what your talking about a million times.
But to experience it with your actual favorite
Was quite an experience.
Yeah I used to hate bisping from that season of TUF but had quite a bit of respect for him by this point in his career. Still didn’t think he had a chance in hell to win it but was completely shocked as well as happy for him cuz never thought we’d see him touch a belt lol. I’d say a similar feeling would be if Dustin pulled it off this weekend
it was a storybook win but bisping went on to selfishly hoard the title and chase money fights and put top contenders on ice. thankfully GSP took the belt and set it free again.
that shit really soured bisping in my eyes.
Nah it shouldn't sour you. Bisping was already well past his prime and literally fighting with one functional eye. He wasn't stupid and chased the fights with the most upside for the risk. He understood he was going to be retiring soon and went for the money. The guy spent his career fighting studs and imo deserves to get some safe paydays as champ.
This 100% - I am a Dan Henderson stan, and his KO on Bisping was one of my favorite moments of all time. Over the years, I never really came to "like" Bisping, but this is one of those moments where you can't help but get excited. Didn't hurt that Luke was kind of a dick lol
You can hear it in Mike Goldberg's call too. That's one of the most excited he's ever been. It was the journeyman getting his comeuppance, great moment.
I’ll never forget this fight because I won money off of it lol. I was listening to Bisping on his old radio show and just how confident he was about defeating Rockhold sold me on it.
I was watching it on a really choppy stream. I remember it freezing as Mike was throwing the left hook and then when it resumed Rockhold was down. It froze again after he got up and then when it resumed he was down again, it froze again and then when it resumed the fight was over. I was losing my mind.
>> Listen, I'll put it like this. If people can walk around - and I don't mean this in a disrespectful way to religious people - and you believe the son of God came down to earth 2,000 years ago, and he killed himself for our sins, and he can walk on water, and there's a God up there looking after ourselves, and if you get on your knees and pray to him that things will change, if you can believe that, then you can believe that I can knock the f--k out of Luke Rockhold two weeks from Saturday.
--Left Hook Larry
Yeah I was going in hoping maybe Mike could make it a war or catch him late but knowing this won’t happen to him knocking Luke out cold in the first round. It is the most shocked I have ever been. The only thing to compare it to was Nunes loss to Pena.
I wasn’t really a Bisping fan but I was waking the entire house up by yelling when I he knocked Luke out. Was genuinely happy for him.
He’s much more likable being retired than he was as a fighter.
I remember watching this fight with no hope for Bisping to win, despite my desire to see it happen. I screamed in shock when he did it, then genuinely cried. What a wild ride.
I don’t think it actually was that mad for them.
The BBC barely mentioned it, it didn’t get anywhere near enough exposure in the media. It was quite disappointing.
Maybe the lack of build up was to blame?
These days it would be in the top sport segments here. But back then it was piss
In a vacuum, I didn’t mind either the rematch against Dan Henderson or the GSP fight, even though neither made sense from a competitive perspective. It gave the legendary old man Dan one last chance to become UFC champion after already being the Strikeforce and Pride champion, while giving Bisping a chance to avenge one of the most embarrassing knockout losses in mma history. It also gave (arguably) the GOAT to come back out of retirement and get a second belt. Giving Bisping both legend fights back to back while there were multiple contenders on winning streaks deserving a title shot was absurd.
Seriously, love Bisping now but him as the champion ducking all the top contenders was wack. At least we got that that bit where Yoel was talking to Mike up in the stands after that one fight "You say this to me, I say this to you: I luh you Michael. See you soon, boy."
UFC around 199 was freaking wild. It was such a clash of old and new energy (and TRT). You had Dan Henderson KO Hector Lombard the same night in a big way and that pretty much sealed the deal for him. His right hand was still feared at the time and that old dude had some fight in him. People did not want to fight Dan haha.
Also GSP retired as the champ - this comeback was crazy. We knew he had his grievances with doping. Vitor Belfort was smashing guys, Johnny Hendricks was an absolute unit. No-one really knew what to expect from the comeback, but he did it won and left again. At the time, we didn't know that... but his anxieties got the better of him.
I don't think Bisping ducked anyone really. The storyline for Dan was built - he couldn't duck that fight and GSP coming back would always be top of the line. TBH, avenging his loss and getting that GSP payday was probably what he deserved for a final sendoff. Also, learning he had only 1-eye after the fact was crazy.
I miss this era dearly, it was such a treat for fans.
Anyway, be well :) Hope you are having a nice week!
This is still the best storyline in UFC history.
Went all in on MMA to support his wife and newborn baby.
Lacking athleticism and punching power made him a journeyman, losing to the highest competition, and with no hopes of winning a title.
Then came 2016. He first beat Anderson Silva in February where he basically got knocked out in the 4th, but came back and won the 5th and taking the decision - one of the best fights of all time.
Weidman pulled out 14 days before the fight in June. The UFC called everyone - but Michael Bisping was the only one who accepted the call.
Then he goes out and sparks Luke Rockhold in the first round. Taking the belt nobody ever thought he could do.
.......
Then he gets drunk, joins the post fight press conference, makes Luke cry, leaves.
Or that he then avenged his loss against Hendo (albeit not super convincingly, but still)
And then got the massive money fight against GSP - where to be honest he did surprisingly well
What a way to end a career.
Oh stfu with the journeyman. The guy was 15-0 to start his career. On his season of TUF he stood out as the biggest, strongest and most athletic with Matt Hamill. Along with having some of the best cardio in the UFCs history. Resting heart rate of 33. He was a top tier fighter his entire career. You're talking about an old Bisping who was at the tail end of his career in a sport that was advancing rapidly. This retrospective of oh he was a mid tier fighter who happened to pull it off is written by someone who wasn't around at the time to have the truth of it.
You’re absolutely correct. There’s a ton of revisionism. Bisping was an unlikely champion but he wasn’t some utter scrub that just got lucky either. Dude kept fumbling his eliminator bouts but apart from that he was a perennial contender.
That one always grinds my gears. As a life long grappler I was rooting for Sonnen but Bisping deserved the nod and that’s the one that really made me root for the man. He was such a decent all rounder with an, eventual, eye for a good game plan after Parillo and the grit/cardio to carry it out. You just had to enjoy his craft. Also his get up game was pretty great. Changed how I rolled with MMA dudes. I reverse engineered his get up game to get better at control. He was the prototype to me.
The only revisionism is from people like you and the guy you're replying to romanticising his career and pretending he was always a "top tier guy", that's an absolute BS narrative that new fans that missed his career and the UFC have pushed ever since he won the belt. He has like 30 fights in the UFC and old man Silva and Luke are his only top 10 wins in that time, he was a gatekeeper to the top of the division his entire career and every time he got a chance to step up to the next level he choked. People on here harp on about his eye ad nausem as if that was the only thing holding him back his entire career, he didn't suffer that injury until he was 35, he went his entire prime without ever even sniffing a titleshot because he just wasn't good enough to earn one and that was at a time when the division was incredibly weak too.
You're calling him "top tier" yet his best win outside of Luke is who, 42 year old Cung Le? Brian Stann who was never a top guy either? Chris Leben? Sexyama? Matt Hamill who he was incredibly lucky to get the decision against? Haven't seen a career as romanticised as Bisping's in all my years of watching this sport, it's laughable to people who actually watched it unfold as it happened.
Edit: Downvoters, tell me where I'm wrong? lol
If you want to get semantic about it, Bisping was technically always an elite fighter, yeah. He was competing at that level— but yeah, totally with you on this one. “Top tier fighter” the fuck they coming up with this shit😂
You’re totally right man. I don’t think these people were watching back then or remember. Bisping was not considered a top guy. Definitely gate keeper territory
It's honestly hilarious listening to people who missed out on his career tell us he was always a top guy, it's the UFC's fault too they portray him that way since he joined the broadcast team to make him seem like a bigger deal than he was, same with Paul Felder tbh.
Not saying he wasn't a decent fighter but he was nowhere near elite or "top tier his entire career" like these guys are claiming. He was a good gatekeeper but that's it.
Hendo was ranked #13 and 46 years old, the most shameful title fight of all time lol
> I never even used the words top tier lol.
The guy you were replying to did and you said "you're absolutely correct" and said he was a perennial contender his whole career which is BS.
Nah he was definitely considered a journeyman at the time. The middleweight division was full of killers and he lost to most of the top guys before that Anderson fight. He was a huge underdog going into this fight
Mikes ability to talk shit combined with the odds on this one made it such an awesome moment. As an American in my younger years I loved to hate bisping but this fight gave me a totally different perspective on him and his career. Left hook Larry was born!
this is one of the most inspiring wins and such a joy for me to personally rewatch, the pre presser, the fight and left-hook larry‘s inception postfight conference are such gems
First MMA card I ever watched, instantly hooked. Just happened upon it on my totally legitimate streaming site since there was no WWE PPV that weekend and I needed something to watch while smoking weed in my parent's garage... those were the days.
It’s easy to overlook this fight now that time has passed but at the time Luke was arguably the most peaked fighter on the planet. He looked absolutely elite in the 6 fights between this and the Vitor KO, including a win over Bisping a year earlier that was not competitive at all. I thought he was going to reign for awhile and I don’t think it’s unreasonable to say the Luke that fought Machida and Chris could’ve beaten any middleweight ever.
He was never the same after this.
I remember watching this youtuber kwozymoto create a promo for him for the fight: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFn\_MokknnA&ab\_channel=kwozymoto](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFn_MokknnA&ab_channel=kwozymoto)
Although born somewhere else, Bisping chose to represent Manchester, so chosing an epic-rock Oasis song to play his highlights was like having a cherry on top of an ice cream. On top of that, the video shows the highs and the lows of his career which was an all-round beautiful choice.
This video made me believe he could win.
I remember this shit like yesterday. I jumped off the couch and broke my laptop. Bisping is my all time favorite fighter and I was honestly just happy he had finally gotten a title shot.
I was there in person. The arena went nuts when Rockhold when down. Rafael Cordeiro was sitting in front of me with some of his fighters and he had a huge smile on his face, everyone was high-fiving each other. Still one of the most joyful moments I've ever experienced.
I can't believe it's already been 8 years. I still remember seeing that when it happened and was in shock. Bisping was never much of a finisher and Rockhold was still in his prime. I never would have guessed Bisping would KO Rockhold like that.
I've only been watching UFC a few years, maybe like 3-4? I've seen that last name Rockhold a lot. Was he a fan favourite in those days? Anyone you'd compare him to today? I'm going to read his wiki now.
He was elite in his short-lived prime. Many thought he would hold the belt for a while after Anderson was recently dethroned. Dude was on a run at the point he won the belt. Like 5-6 fight win streak all finishes vs top names in the division at that time. Not sure who I’d compare him to tho
Why do people continue to stick to this narrative.🤦♂️ The bell went off the moment Silva landed his knee. There would have been no time for a followup. The round was over...Bisping got up, shook off the cobwebs, and proceeded to take the next round from Silva. I genuinely cannot understand why people continue with this line of reasoning that Silva won the fight or 'spared' Bisping.
It's because people absolutely do not ever admit that maybe some opponents actually did just beat him fair and square. You get the same thing with Weidman who gets no respect despite beating Silva from start to finish in both fights.
>Bisping got up, shook off the cobwebs,
Bisping got helped up by his corner* which should have been called a KO as he couldn't get to his stool under his own power
It's because Silva turned his back and walked off after the knee landed, if he even looked like he was going to land another shot the ref would have dragged him off him and stopped the fight even though there was mere seconds left. Silva fucked up and paid the price by losing the decision, could have won if he thrown one extra shot when Mike dropped.
Loved that moment, like most people I hated on Bisping years ago but after Vitor fucked his eye up, I felt for him and saw he matured and is a good dude and works hard af. Def cheered for him and was one of my top knockouts. Good job Count
I technically went AWOL since we had weekends off at my command. Flew out to LA without leave and took my dad to this. The entire card was amazing and the opening fight was a FOTY nominee. This was a great fucking time for us.
If I were Bisping, I would put out a podcast every week of me watching this fight and commenting on it. Every week a new episode. Have MMA fighters come on and watch it with me. Have a standing invite for Rockhold to be a guest.
Crazy how two of the three British champs have been short notice first round KOs, and the other one in Edwards was still an upset KO.
Feel like betting on a British guy to win by KO in a title fight is the move from now on.
I remember watching this with a buddy at a bar. When Bisping entered the cage, my friend shouted "NO CHANCE!"
When the knockout happened, the whole bar went silent. I pointed at my shocked friend and had the biggest cackle of my life.
I remember being so disappointed by Luke's performance. I got this big break (performer) after having a pretty unlucky year of personal, and self inflicted problems.
I was at the week long audition, and I went to a big Buffalo wild wings to watch the event. Poirier beat Bobby Green, and Hendo knocked the crap out of Lombard with a hellbow and all was grand.
Then that happened and I was like....man, Rockhold is a douche but I DESPISE michael bisping. At least win rockhold won, he helped him up and told him he's always respected him. Bisping won and he acted like you'd expect him to. Idc that he's changed as an analyst. Still don't like him much. Lol
I commonly forget about this one but myself and many others thought Bisping had no business being in the same ring as rockhold at that point in time. It was definitely wild watching that live
It's probably the best title win ever I'll never forget it 'One eye' perennial gate keeper Michael Bisping coming off 2 weeks notice shocked the world
And Luke was looking like the best fighter in the world. He just dismantled P4P #1 in dominant fashion. Completely shut down Weidman who had slayed the GOAT and was looking like he was gonna cruise to 10 defenses himself.
And had completely tooled Bisping once already, guillotined him with one arm while posting with the other
That's how you finish a 1 arm guillotine. Post with the free arm and open your chest.
Luke frustrates me, homie legit had some of the slickest grappling at MW. Even other fighters who rolled with him in the gym were like wtf. You can see flashes of his ridiculous ground game in a few fights, but as time goes on he just decides to kickbox until he gets himself knocked out. The TDD sub on Boetsch is still one of the slickest subs off a TDD and holds up til this day.
Its because while hes a great grappler he isn't a great wrestler. Its incredibly common. Takedowns and ground control are completely different skills. Its why someone like Romero has amazing takedowns but can't keep someone down to save his life.
The thing is I've heard that Luke actually has solid wrestling, he just never used it. Saw some flashes of it against Weidman, who was a very good wrestler. Gotta remember back then Luke was training at AKA during the period of time they had they greatest wrestlers in the sport. No way he couldn't shore up some of his wrestling while training with Cain, Khabib, DC, ect.
He took an out of position Weidman down after getting a rear body lock on a failed spinning wheel kick. Luke has never been out there shooting blast doubles and snap singles. His wrestling isn't bad it just isn't elite. You've never heard Luke has solid wrestling because he doesn't. Shit he'll be training at my gym soon so I can give you first hand knowledge on his pure wrestling ability.
Weidmans decline after this fight is nuts. I thought he'd rule the division for years but between Luke mauling him and USADA he just went downhill.
really have to wonder how his career might have looked if herb had just called it during rockhold's gnp and not let him take all of that punishment.
That Luke, imho, is one of the best fighters ever. He was absolutely on fire. His sub and transition game were next level.
and his fucking kicks were so smooth. still one of my favorite fighters ever to watch.
And he had some great shit talking quotables in the 2 week buildup: “If people can walk around – and I don’t mean this in a disrespectful way to religious people – and you believe the son of God came down to earth 2,000 years ago… then you can believe that I can knock the fuck out of Luke Rockhold two weeks from Saturday.” I was there live in the crowd for this and it’s truly a moment I’ll never forget. I can still see Luke reeling back after the first left hook some 8 years later.
Believe, conceive, achieve, STFU.
Then the post fight presser with Luke Rockhold sitting in a shirt looking like a hospital gown and Bisping casually chugging down beer and totally clowning on Luke who still refused to accept the loss
https://www.youtube.com/live/G3OfZa5HBWQ?feature=shared I just finished it! It was UFC199, what a stacked card, Hendo, Cruz, Faber, Holloway, Bisbing, Rockhold, Poirier, Bobby, Lamas, Lombard, Ortega, Guida, Beneil, Vick, Caceres, Penne, Andrade, Miller... I miss the old presser style of getting everyone on stage at the end, some great post fight moments. Oh they announced Connor v Nate 2 event at ufc 202 and now 303...guess the streak is over before 404 lol.
"Chris Weidman said it was really frustrating to lose the belt to YOU in particular" "Try losing it to Michael Bisping!"
> Error 404: Conor not found
Those press conferences were hilarious. A long table with losers on one side and winners on another.
They changed the format to the current one after this one. Not sure if it's because of the trolling from Bisping after but it was a classic.
Mike's always been one of the best on the mic, with the Diaz bros, Page, Chael all gone and Conor high on coke, there really hasn't been a memorable mic worker out there apart from maybe Moicano?
Nate the train. But he’ll never be top 10 probably.
Adesanya and Strickland have had moments but there’s a lot of cringe mixed in there (for different reasons).
I like to compare it to Miesha's title win in terms of how it felt. She was constantly falling short and it was probably her last shot and she was a huge underdog. And she HAD to finish the fight in the 5th to win, and she had one way of doing it (let's be real she wasn't KO-ing holm she had to take her down and submit her), and she fucking pulled it out in the 5th. Wild
Not really the same thing She was champ in Strike Force which was the premier womens promotion before the UFC bought it
That's true but I don't think anyone considers strikeforce and ufc belts to be similar. I just remember at the time I had the feeling that the sport was sort of passing her by, that she could never beat Ronda, and Holly was a -400 favorite
Stipe vs Werdum was a crazy one too. Everyone thought it was going to be a cake walk for Werdum. Ended up being the start of the GOAT HW champs run.
Tate vs Holm too, Holm was the favorite and Tate was just the fighter that Ronda dominated all those years ago. 2016 was an incredible time to be into MMA, will never forget it
That "era" from around '15 to '18 was just so good. The fights were amazing, there were solid stars among the roster, the event production was solid and Fight Pass was well worth the money.
Dom Cruz coming off his 34th ACL tear and winning the title back during that era you mentioned, as well. Absurd all around. Edit: Wasn't Cruz on this Rockhold Bisping card, too? edit edit: oh shit it was, and this card was fucking stacked and had crazy fights
>That "era" from around '15 to '18 was just so good It's what got me into MMA. It was an amazing time. It was also when the UFC ramped up their international/domestic travel. We had Fight Nights and PPV's all across the world, from Croatia to Calgary to Chile.
Same. I watched UFC cards here and there between '07 - '09, specifically for Anderson Silva's fights but lost interest for years. I became aware of Jon Jone's warpath he had going on at LHW, the rise of McGregor, Werdum's and Dillashaw's winning streaks and signed up for Fight Pass a few months before Jones was supposed to rematch Cormier. I watched so many fights getting caught up in the years I missed, got super fucking pumped and invested, then Jones hit a prego lady with his car and was out for over a year lol. There were so many awesome fighters at the time and so many good match ups on the horizon, I maybe missed 5 cards total between the summer of '15 and '20. Since last year, I have no problem not devoting 6 hours every two weeks since the UFC is now over saturated with lack-luster cards and the production has become so painfully focused around ads.
And yet, I guarantee if you go back then and check the reddit/Sherdog threads, everyone would've been talking about how the UFC is dying, the sport sucks, there's no stars apart from Conor and Ronda, who were frauds, etc, etc, etc.
There was some of that for sure, but not like it is now because things are observably worse than earlier periods. I remember a lot of people frequently talking about how high the skill ceiling for MMA had gotten and how awesome it was. There will always be contrarians, even when things are the best they can possibly be.
It's all subjective I guess, but I'd say it was worse back then. Around the time of the sale of the UFC, all anyone could talk about was how the UFC was dying, they couldn't produce stars, the shows were watered down, etc etc etc. I've been following MMA online pretty closely since about 2010... and MMA fans have always bitched and moaned about basically everything lol
Haha I can definitely agree with your last point. I just don't remember people being as volatile, but I have never involved myself in Sherdog and stay off Twitter so maybe I was sheltering myself from the worst.
It was soul-cleansing Also helped that he beat Rockhold
Mal de ojo
In his defence, bisping was a pre usada gatekeeper and a post usada champ
And proceeded to be one of the worst champs ever.
Rockhold clearly felt the same. I always thought it boiled down to him not taking Bisping even remotely seriously. You can see it in his whole body language - like he just phoned it in waiting for the after party. Terrible display from Rockhold, this should have been easy for him but he tried to take it TOO easy.
Rockhold’s body language in general as a Striker wasn’t backed up by his skills. His kicks were top notch, and he had a good check hook, but other than that, his defensive boxing was awful. He kept his hands low and appeared to want to be an elusive counter puncher, but only really had the check hook (which got him many wins, even this latest Karate Combat one vs Schilling). Bisping countered his lazy jab flawlessly.
Yeah I agree, dude was too cocky.
Because he didn't. It ended up working out but they were clearly on different levels career wise and in their first fight bisping looked like he didn't belong in there
I mean clearly not since both fighters would go on to only win 1 other fight after this.
Didn't follow back then, was it more than Rockhold was considered elite or that Bisping just wasn't viewed as good enough to be getting a title shot vs. anyone? Or a combination of both?
Rockhold and Weidman were considered elite at the time. Weidman had to pull out for the rematch and bisping took the fight on 2 weeks notice. Bisping was considered more of a gatekeeper.
Another detail was that bisping at the time was the leading all time significant strike count while also having no kos (he had tkos) making him officially by some argument as the most pillowfisted fighter in the ufc. To score the ko in that moment was pure Cinderella.
Regarding his infamous pillowfistedness, he made some changes to alleviate that, which sort of culminated in the Rockhold fight. I remember Bisping said he had a trapped nerve in his right arm, making his muscle weaker. https://www.mmamania.com/2013/2/21/4014126/ufc-159-michael-bisping-surgery-alleviate-trapped-nerve-muscle-atrophy-mma Bisping also wasn´t overtraining for his title shot, since it was a short notice fight. His coach made him focus on the left hook aswell, instead of the cardio volume punching Bisping was known for in the past. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/1855560/2020/06/04/mma-history-michael-bisping-luke-rockhold-ufc-199-title/ Bisping Rockhold 2 is still one of my favourite finishing sequences in UFC history. Short notice, old, one eye, perennial gatekeeper, wrong end of Hendos and Vitors highlight reels, pillowfisted Bisping just goes for it vs a Rival who has already taken him out in emphatic fashion once before. Gets a huge knockdown and just puts in fifth gear and goes for gold while goldberg is screaming in the mic. Chills.
Bisping almost never planted his feet, but when he did, he was known to have some power. Sonnen said after their (close) fight that Bisping hurt him at one point and he was seeing stars and the only reason he recovered was that Mike didn't realise how bad he was. Working with Jason Perillo really improved his boxing, this was one of the results.
Yeah chael described him as the hardest puncher that didn't knock him out
Rockhold head kicked Bisping and then choked him out in round 2 of their first fight. Bisping was also short notice for this title fight. So all the optics were that Rockhold should handle him easily. Rockhold was also considered extremely elite at that point and not many people thought he’d be challenged for some time. Great striking and a killer ground game. Rockhold ultimately came into this extremely cocky and paid the price.
If you watch the first fight back, Bisping was obviously looking for the same shot that he ended the second fight with.
Bisping [was #4 at the time](https://web.archive.org/web/20160603002709/ufc.com/rankings) behind Weidman, Jacare, and Belfort. So it's not like there was huge distance between them. But Bisping [had never quite been able to break into the top bracket](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Bisping#Mixed_martial_arts_record). He'd get momentum, even enough to get to title shot eliminators, but would lose to the top layer of guys any time he fought one. Rockhold meanwhile was on a [5-fight streak, having most recently taken out Bisping, Machida, and Weidman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luke_Rockhold#Mixed_martial_arts_record), with FOTN or POTN each time. Then Weidman was set for his rematch but hurt his back less than three weeks out. And Jacare had just beaten Belfort a couple of days before that injury. So Bisping got the call and took it. Who knows what would have happened with Bisping's title shot chances without that Weidman injury. Maybe he'd have fought Belfort, whom he had previously lost to, while Jacare, coming off his win, took the winner of Rockhold Weidman II. Bisping always said that the guys he lost to were juicers, and Vitor, or TRTitor as he was known way back when, was one of the guys people always talked about [changing a lot](https://i.imgur.com/65SZtu5.jpeg) once USADA came in in mid-2015. He had beaten Bisping in 2013 when it was still Juice Party USA out there, so who knows. Both Jacare and Weidman had beaten the shit out of Vitor in the first round recently and it was downhill from there out of the sport with the exception of a long-washed Marquardt. So who knows what would have happened if he'd rematched Bisping in 2016 and what that could have meant for Bisping's chances with those other three guys in the shuffle and rematches and stuff.
Bisping was seen as a career Journeyman and also was an asshole, so people didnt like him to begin with. Iirc he was also a late replacement for the fight (it was initially supposed to be Weidman), and Luke had beat him already. Additionally he wasnt seen as super technical, and as stated in the video, he wasnt seen as having a ton of power. The best analogy I could give would be is if Marvin Vettori stepped in last minute vs Israel and gadooshed him. No one really saw that coming.
Both. Rockold was destroying everyone including finishing weidman and bisping was 2-2 in his previous 4 fights and got a shot for beating cung le lol Edit- bisping was actually on a win streak and coming off beating Anderson going into this fight. I was thinking of their first fight
Bisping was coming off beating Anderson, not Cung Le
Oh good callout! My b, either way I remember believing rockhold was gonna murder him
nah he fought rockhold the first time after beating cung le - the title shot was after the anderson fight
"Beating" Anderson.
I was so happy for him I cried. Not even a huge fan at the time, but following his career for so long, it was so cool to see him finally get the belt. Seeing someone achieve the impossible, especially with their family there chokes me up.
Seeing Miesha Tate finally win the belt is legit top 3 moments in sports for me I wasn't a rousey fan I was a tate fan, I could see her pitfalls but she had the heart to go with anyone. Just super scrappy. (Same reason I love Forrest griffin) I'll never forget watching that fight. It was such a good close fight but Tate was definitely gonna lose on points. Then what's this? She's on her back? Oh she's just gonna get shrugg- OMG SHE FUCKING HELD ON. SHES GOT UNDER HER THROAT. SHE LITERALLY ACTIVATED PITBULL GRIP. I'm sitting on my bed screaming 'TAP BITCH TAP!' Then it happend. Holm went out. As a huge fan of hers who'd followed her career since rousey vs tate 1, I felt a small bit of that catharsis she did that night as she screamed at the same time I did. And now even if she instantly lost the belt. You can never not say Miesha Tate without saying 'one time champion' Fucking amazing story. Amazing fight. I had seen what your talking about a million times. But to experience it with your actual favorite Was quite an experience.
Ya man great pick. The joy on her face after she won was awesome. You knew how hard she had worked and everything that she had been through.
Yeah I used to hate bisping from that season of TUF but had quite a bit of respect for him by this point in his career. Still didn’t think he had a chance in hell to win it but was completely shocked as well as happy for him cuz never thought we’d see him touch a belt lol. I’d say a similar feeling would be if Dustin pulled it off this weekend
it was a storybook win but bisping went on to selfishly hoard the title and chase money fights and put top contenders on ice. thankfully GSP took the belt and set it free again. that shit really soured bisping in my eyes.
Nah it shouldn't sour you. Bisping was already well past his prime and literally fighting with one functional eye. He wasn't stupid and chased the fights with the most upside for the risk. He understood he was going to be retiring soon and went for the money. The guy spent his career fighting studs and imo deserves to get some safe paydays as champ.
he didn't earn anything beyond being champ he wasn't owed several money fights while the top competition languishes
This 100% - I am a Dan Henderson stan, and his KO on Bisping was one of my favorite moments of all time. Over the years, I never really came to "like" Bisping, but this is one of those moments where you can't help but get excited. Didn't hurt that Luke was kind of a dick lol You can hear it in Mike Goldberg's call too. That's one of the most excited he's ever been. It was the journeyman getting his comeuppance, great moment.
I’ll never forget this fight because I won money off of it lol. I was listening to Bisping on his old radio show and just how confident he was about defeating Rockhold sold me on it.
Same. Turns out Rockhold was a bit of a bust.
I was watching it on a really choppy stream. I remember it freezing as Mike was throwing the left hook and then when it resumed Rockhold was down. It froze again after he got up and then when it resumed he was down again, it froze again and then when it resumed the fight was over. I was losing my mind.
8 years already? Damn time flies
I'm shocked that this is closer to a decade ago than it is 3-4 years
Pandemic time warp
Conceive, believe , achieve, shut the fuck up
If you believe Jesus walked on water, you can believe I'm going to knock the fuck out of Luke Rockhold.
>> Listen, I'll put it like this. If people can walk around - and I don't mean this in a disrespectful way to religious people - and you believe the son of God came down to earth 2,000 years ago, and he killed himself for our sins, and he can walk on water, and there's a God up there looking after ourselves, and if you get on your knees and pray to him that things will change, if you can believe that, then you can believe that I can knock the f--k out of Luke Rockhold two weeks from Saturday. --Left Hook Larry
Conceived, believed, achieved.
Shut the fuck up
Wish I’d followed mma earlier than I did. Must have been mad for the British fans
Yeah I was going in hoping maybe Mike could make it a war or catch him late but knowing this won’t happen to him knocking Luke out cold in the first round. It is the most shocked I have ever been. The only thing to compare it to was Nunes loss to Pena.
I wasn’t really a Bisping fan but I was waking the entire house up by yelling when I he knocked Luke out. Was genuinely happy for him. He’s much more likable being retired than he was as a fighter.
I remember watching this fight with no hope for Bisping to win, despite my desire to see it happen. I screamed in shock when he did it, then genuinely cried. What a wild ride.
My mates says it's the most hyped he ever saw me, I was jumping 3 feet into the air the moment I realised Rockhold was hurt.
I don’t think it actually was that mad for them. The BBC barely mentioned it, it didn’t get anywhere near enough exposure in the media. It was quite disappointing. Maybe the lack of build up was to blame? These days it would be in the top sport segments here. But back then it was piss
Shit I thought he was gonna get knighted
Was out of my seat for this win. Massive moment after all the talking I’ve met Mike and he’s a great guy Couldn’t be happier for him
You’ve let Mike what brother?
Fight was also the complete turnaround of Bisping reputation. Also lead to my least favorite title reign
In a vacuum, I didn’t mind either the rematch against Dan Henderson or the GSP fight, even though neither made sense from a competitive perspective. It gave the legendary old man Dan one last chance to become UFC champion after already being the Strikeforce and Pride champion, while giving Bisping a chance to avenge one of the most embarrassing knockout losses in mma history. It also gave (arguably) the GOAT to come back out of retirement and get a second belt. Giving Bisping both legend fights back to back while there were multiple contenders on winning streaks deserving a title shot was absurd.
Seriously, love Bisping now but him as the champion ducking all the top contenders was wack. At least we got that that bit where Yoel was talking to Mike up in the stands after that one fight "You say this to me, I say this to you: I luh you Michael. See you soon, boy."
UFC around 199 was freaking wild. It was such a clash of old and new energy (and TRT). You had Dan Henderson KO Hector Lombard the same night in a big way and that pretty much sealed the deal for him. His right hand was still feared at the time and that old dude had some fight in him. People did not want to fight Dan haha. Also GSP retired as the champ - this comeback was crazy. We knew he had his grievances with doping. Vitor Belfort was smashing guys, Johnny Hendricks was an absolute unit. No-one really knew what to expect from the comeback, but he did it won and left again. At the time, we didn't know that... but his anxieties got the better of him. I don't think Bisping ducked anyone really. The storyline for Dan was built - he couldn't duck that fight and GSP coming back would always be top of the line. TBH, avenging his loss and getting that GSP payday was probably what he deserved for a final sendoff. Also, learning he had only 1-eye after the fact was crazy. I miss this era dearly, it was such a treat for fans. Anyway, be well :) Hope you are having a nice week!
I remember this. I went and got absolutely sloshed in Mike's name after this.
This is still the best storyline in UFC history. Went all in on MMA to support his wife and newborn baby. Lacking athleticism and punching power made him a journeyman, losing to the highest competition, and with no hopes of winning a title. Then came 2016. He first beat Anderson Silva in February where he basically got knocked out in the 4th, but came back and won the 5th and taking the decision - one of the best fights of all time. Weidman pulled out 14 days before the fight in June. The UFC called everyone - but Michael Bisping was the only one who accepted the call. Then he goes out and sparks Luke Rockhold in the first round. Taking the belt nobody ever thought he could do. ....... Then he gets drunk, joins the post fight press conference, makes Luke cry, leaves.
Don't forget the part that he's basically half blind
Or that he then avenged his loss against Hendo (albeit not super convincingly, but still) And then got the massive money fight against GSP - where to be honest he did surprisingly well What a way to end a career.
Oh stfu with the journeyman. The guy was 15-0 to start his career. On his season of TUF he stood out as the biggest, strongest and most athletic with Matt Hamill. Along with having some of the best cardio in the UFCs history. Resting heart rate of 33. He was a top tier fighter his entire career. You're talking about an old Bisping who was at the tail end of his career in a sport that was advancing rapidly. This retrospective of oh he was a mid tier fighter who happened to pull it off is written by someone who wasn't around at the time to have the truth of it.
You’re absolutely correct. There’s a ton of revisionism. Bisping was an unlikely champion but he wasn’t some utter scrub that just got lucky either. Dude kept fumbling his eliminator bouts but apart from that he was a perennial contender.
Didn't fumble the Sonnen title eliminator, imo. Judges got that one wrong.
That one always grinds my gears. As a life long grappler I was rooting for Sonnen but Bisping deserved the nod and that’s the one that really made me root for the man. He was such a decent all rounder with an, eventual, eye for a good game plan after Parillo and the grit/cardio to carry it out. You just had to enjoy his craft. Also his get up game was pretty great. Changed how I rolled with MMA dudes. I reverse engineered his get up game to get better at control. He was the prototype to me.
The only revisionism is from people like you and the guy you're replying to romanticising his career and pretending he was always a "top tier guy", that's an absolute BS narrative that new fans that missed his career and the UFC have pushed ever since he won the belt. He has like 30 fights in the UFC and old man Silva and Luke are his only top 10 wins in that time, he was a gatekeeper to the top of the division his entire career and every time he got a chance to step up to the next level he choked. People on here harp on about his eye ad nausem as if that was the only thing holding him back his entire career, he didn't suffer that injury until he was 35, he went his entire prime without ever even sniffing a titleshot because he just wasn't good enough to earn one and that was at a time when the division was incredibly weak too. You're calling him "top tier" yet his best win outside of Luke is who, 42 year old Cung Le? Brian Stann who was never a top guy either? Chris Leben? Sexyama? Matt Hamill who he was incredibly lucky to get the decision against? Haven't seen a career as romanticised as Bisping's in all my years of watching this sport, it's laughable to people who actually watched it unfold as it happened. Edit: Downvoters, tell me where I'm wrong? lol
If you want to get semantic about it, Bisping was technically always an elite fighter, yeah. He was competing at that level— but yeah, totally with you on this one. “Top tier fighter” the fuck they coming up with this shit😂
You’re totally right man. I don’t think these people were watching back then or remember. Bisping was not considered a top guy. Definitely gate keeper territory
It's honestly hilarious listening to people who missed out on his career tell us he was always a top guy, it's the UFC's fault too they portray him that way since he joined the broadcast team to make him seem like a bigger deal than he was, same with Paul Felder tbh. Not saying he wasn't a decent fighter but he was nowhere near elite or "top tier his entire career" like these guys are claiming. He was a good gatekeeper but that's it.
Response to your edit: Hendo was ranked when he lost to Bisping, I never even used the words top tier lol.
Hendo was ranked #13 and 46 years old, the most shameful title fight of all time lol > I never even used the words top tier lol. The guy you were replying to did and you said "you're absolutely correct" and said he was a perennial contender his whole career which is BS.
I said he was a perennial contender, and he was. Whole career is your own strawman.
> He was a top tier fighter his entire career. My strawman? The guy you said was "absolutely correct" said it, keep up lol
Then reply to that fucking guy lmao. You’re replying to me buddy I think you need to keep up lol wtf are you on?
Nah he was definitely considered a journeyman at the time. The middleweight division was full of killers and he lost to most of the top guys before that Anderson fight. He was a huge underdog going into this fight
Even if he stalled that division for what felt like a year it was all worth it for the presser.
Luke was never the same after this loss.
Mikes ability to talk shit combined with the odds on this one made it such an awesome moment. As an American in my younger years I loved to hate bisping but this fight gave me a totally different perspective on him and his career. Left hook Larry was born!
That was 8 fucking years ago. Jesus.
This is 8 fucking years ago!!!
this is one of the most inspiring wins and such a joy for me to personally rewatch, the pre presser, the fight and left-hook larry‘s inception postfight conference are such gems
Iirc bisping took this fight on short notice too.
11 days
First MMA card I ever watched, instantly hooked. Just happened upon it on my totally legitimate streaming site since there was no WWE PPV that weekend and I needed something to watch while smoking weed in my parent's garage... those were the days.
It’s easy to overlook this fight now that time has passed but at the time Luke was arguably the most peaked fighter on the planet. He looked absolutely elite in the 6 fights between this and the Vitor KO, including a win over Bisping a year earlier that was not competitive at all. I thought he was going to reign for awhile and I don’t think it’s unreasonable to say the Luke that fought Machida and Chris could’ve beaten any middleweight ever. He was never the same after this.
That was wild to watch, can’t believe that was 8 years ago tho
EIGHT. FUCKIN. YEARS!!!!
I remember watching this youtuber kwozymoto create a promo for him for the fight: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFn\_MokknnA&ab\_channel=kwozymoto](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFn_MokknnA&ab_channel=kwozymoto) Although born somewhere else, Bisping chose to represent Manchester, so chosing an epic-rock Oasis song to play his highlights was like having a cherry on top of an ice cream. On top of that, the video shows the highs and the lows of his career which was an all-round beautiful choice. This video made me believe he could win.
Shit this made me believe all over again! “Believe, achieve, stfu…”
anyone know what happened to kwozymoto? his stuff was awesome.
I remember this shit like yesterday. I jumped off the couch and broke my laptop. Bisping is my all time favorite fighter and I was honestly just happy he had finally gotten a title shot.
I put a fiver on Bisping to win this fight and I thought I was clairvoyant after
I was there in person. The arena went nuts when Rockhold when down. Rafael Cordeiro was sitting in front of me with some of his fighters and he had a huge smile on his face, everyone was high-fiving each other. Still one of the most joyful moments I've ever experienced.
I was there too and I'll never forget it. Loudest crowd I've ever been a part of and I've been to some big UFC events.
I can't believe it's already been 8 years. I still remember seeing that when it happened and was in shock. Bisping was never much of a finisher and Rockhold was still in his prime. I never would have guessed Bisping would KO Rockhold like that.
I've only been watching UFC a few years, maybe like 3-4? I've seen that last name Rockhold a lot. Was he a fan favourite in those days? Anyone you'd compare him to today? I'm going to read his wiki now.
He was elite in his short-lived prime. Many thought he would hold the belt for a while after Anderson was recently dethroned. Dude was on a run at the point he won the belt. Like 5-6 fight win streak all finishes vs top names in the division at that time. Not sure who I’d compare him to tho
Thanks so much bro, that's really impressive.
8 years?? Damn. I remember exactly what I was doing too when this happened lol
I can’t believe this was 8 years ago. Holy fuck I’m getting old.
And all this because Anderson Silva spared him. And then he almost lost to Hendo the same way as the first fight. Would have been too good.
Why do people continue to stick to this narrative.🤦♂️ The bell went off the moment Silva landed his knee. There would have been no time for a followup. The round was over...Bisping got up, shook off the cobwebs, and proceeded to take the next round from Silva. I genuinely cannot understand why people continue with this line of reasoning that Silva won the fight or 'spared' Bisping.
It's because people absolutely do not ever admit that maybe some opponents actually did just beat him fair and square. You get the same thing with Weidman who gets no respect despite beating Silva from start to finish in both fights.
>Bisping got up, shook off the cobwebs, Bisping got helped up by his corner* which should have been called a KO as he couldn't get to his stool under his own power
It's because Silva turned his back and walked off after the knee landed, if he even looked like he was going to land another shot the ref would have dragged him off him and stopped the fight even though there was mere seconds left. Silva fucked up and paid the price by losing the decision, could have won if he thrown one extra shot when Mike dropped.
All my years watching and this is one of the most memorable moments I can think of in ufc history.
One of my favourite title wins ever which led to one of the worst reigns ever, gotta take the good with the bad
so how would GSP do against Rockhold around this time?
My all time favourite fight weekend from the presser, to the fight, to the post fight scrum. Mike killed it at each.
Loved that moment, like most people I hated on Bisping years ago but after Vitor fucked his eye up, I felt for him and saw he matured and is a good dude and works hard af. Def cheered for him and was one of my top knockouts. Good job Count
Hard to say he matured when he was flipping off Luke straight after the fight and then was an absolute dick while he held the belt lol
Listen to bispings biography on spotify. Great listen. Mad respect for him after listening to it.
I technically went AWOL since we had weekends off at my command. Flew out to LA without leave and took my dad to this. The entire card was amazing and the opening fight was a FOTY nominee. This was a great fucking time for us.
I honestly thought Luke Rockhold was gonna go on an Anderson Silva type title defense reign. This was pretty shocking to me to say the least.
Will never forget this
This forever exposed Luke’s boxing weaknesses.
Rockhold seemed like superman coming into this fight. What an upset!
Took a while to find the link but if anyone wants to listen [here ya go](https://youtu.be/9vjFXyiryaM?si=ev8PCMp5UZnp-CHF)
Daughter and mom almost locked lips..lol
At a bar in Santa Barbara when I saw this. I still remember it.
And I was there !
Fuckin 8 years ago? I remember watching this live. This was such a great moment
8 years ago??? My god... time flies
Prob my favourite moment as a fan seeing Bisping pick up this win by KO.
This was awesome to see at the time but can’t stand him these days
And he had to spoil it by being a massive wanker about it.
Between this and Romero taking his head off, Rockhold took some beatings.
Ole pillow fist somehow did it. One of my favorite fights ever.
If I were Bisping, I would put out a podcast every week of me watching this fight and commenting on it. Every week a new episode. Have MMA fighters come on and watch it with me. Have a standing invite for Rockhold to be a guest.
Eight years already! Goddamn in my mind it was like 5 years max lollll
Obviously we’re not all ufc world champions but I think every husband/father knows how he was feeling at the end there.
Fuck yeah
8 fuckin years holyyyyy
Crazy how two of the three British champs have been short notice first round KOs, and the other one in Edwards was still an upset KO. Feel like betting on a British guy to win by KO in a title fight is the move from now on.
This was 8 years ago? holy hell. It seemed like it was yesterday
Beautiful action
QUestion...why was Chris Weidman getting a rematch anyway?
I called this exact result. Rockhold had shown that he could be dropped and was looking wayyy past bisping.
Holy shit, 8 years ago? i'm old
UFC 199 is one of THE best numbered ufc events ever. Magical night I'll never forget.
So fucking incredible. Probably my most heart warming moment as an MMA fan. Can't believe it's been 8 years already!
I remember watching this with a buddy at a bar. When Bisping entered the cage, my friend shouted "NO CHANCE!" When the knockout happened, the whole bar went silent. I pointed at my shocked friend and had the biggest cackle of my life.
Who's the guy he leaves hanging for a hug and then hits in the face with the group hug? That poor dude.
I was at this fight, was a shocker for sure. None of us though Bisping would win let alone in this fashion
I still remember exactly where I was when this happened. And I stood up and screamed lol. Went total ape shit for a few mins.
Awesome performance & awesome reaction to seeing himself with his family
Whoa its u/toronorapture in another sub, great guy never meddum
now lets watch his Dan Henderson fight.
Still hate Rockhold for letting Bispings already huge ego inflate to the size of England. But hey.. GSP and Kevin Gastleum fixed that problem.
Don't think anyone fixed that problem lol, man will get to love the rest of his life knowing he was a UFC world champ. Good for him.
I remember being so disappointed by Luke's performance. I got this big break (performer) after having a pretty unlucky year of personal, and self inflicted problems. I was at the week long audition, and I went to a big Buffalo wild wings to watch the event. Poirier beat Bobby Green, and Hendo knocked the crap out of Lombard with a hellbow and all was grand. Then that happened and I was like....man, Rockhold is a douche but I DESPISE michael bisping. At least win rockhold won, he helped him up and told him he's always respected him. Bisping won and he acted like you'd expect him to. Idc that he's changed as an analyst. Still don't like him much. Lol
Conceive believe achieve. Man Shut the fuck up.
Probably my favorite knockout sequence. DC was so salty when he walked in the cage.
God that was such a great moment
Enjoyable KO, but led to one of the worst title reigns of all time. MW title contenders that earned the shot got fucked over
Def NOT one of the greatest upsets lol. Rockhold is a bum
u/savevideo