This weekend’s (Sat., June 4, 2016) UFC 199 from The Forum in Inglewood, California, is nearly upon us. To get the hype building, the anticipated pay-per-view (PPV) card’s fighters are set appear in a press conference starting at 4:00 p.m. EST. Middleweight champion Luke Rockhold will take on replacement Michael Bisping for the belt in the
This weekend’s (Sat., June 4, 2016) UFC 199 from The Forum in Inglewood, California, is nearly upon us. To get the hype building, the anticipated pay-per-view (PPV) card’s fighters are set appear in a press conference starting at 4:00 p.m. EST.
Middleweight champion Luke Rockhold will take on replacement Michael Bisping for the belt in the main event, while bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz will meet longtime foe Urijah Faber for a third time in the co-main event, ending their years-long feud after a venom-spewing trash talk buildup.
Watch the media event live at 4 p.m. EST right here:
Luke Rockhold has been making some extremely bold claims just three days away from his main event against Michael Bisping at this weekend’s (Sat., June 4, 2016) UFC 199 from The Forum in Inglewood, California, and apparently that’s now extended to one of the greatest mixed martial artists of all-time. Appearing on this evening’s “UFC Tonight,”
Luke Rockhold has been making some extremely bold claims just three days away from his main event against Michael Bisping at this weekend’s (Sat., June 4, 2016) UFC 199 from The Forum in Inglewood, California, and apparently that’s now extended to one of the greatest mixed martial artists of all-time.
Appearing on this evening’s “UFC Tonight,” Rockhold got the trash talk started again when he told show hosts Brian Stann and Kenny Florian that longtime former middleweight champion Anderson Silva, who lost to Bisping in his last fight, kind of took a cheap shot in a fight “The Count” was in control of:
“Bisping has stayed true to who he is. He always fights to the best of his ability no matter who he is, and I saw him go out there and dominate that fight. He make a stupid mistake, and worried about his mouthpiece and that cost him, in a lot of peoples’ eyes, the fight. I mean, a lot of people think, that Anderson won, but he dominated up until that point, and it was kind of a cheap shot on Anderson’s move.
“I guess you can’t fault him, he took the knee he took the opportunity when Bisping wasn’t really engaging himself in the fight, and the whole fight shifted.”
But even though the new champion, who currently sits in a lofty position as the No. 3-ranked pound-for-pound fighter in the world, believes that Bisping was beating Silva thoroughly if not for that third-round knee, he believes the British veteran is about to find out just how different a challenge he’s in for:
“So Bisping was winning, he was dominating the fight, I respect him, but he’s about to find out that Anderson is not on my level. He never was. And this is a completely different fight. He doesn’t know the jump that I’ve made. It’s a completely different fight.”
The reason why it’s a different fight according to Rockhold is simply due to the fact that he’s kept evolving while Bisping, despite fighting well against tough opponents, has stayed the same:
“It’s me that I’ve learned more, I’ve gained more. He’s the same man. He hasn’t lost anything, but he hasn’t gained anything.”
MMA fans everywhere will find out if that’s true in California this Saturday, and while there have been a rash of shocking upsets in the UFC recently, most are picking this as one of the more sure things after Rockhold brutally submitted Bisping in their first match-up in November 2014.
With the champ predicting a “one of a kind” knockout, history could be made at UFC 199. The real history, however, would be if Rockhold could truly prove that he is a better middleweight champion than Silva by breaking his records in the Octagon.
The time-honored UFC middleweight championship will once again be up for grabs when newly-crowned champion Luke Rockhold meets Michael Bisping in the main event of this weekend’s (Sat., June 4, 2016) UFC 199 from The Forum in Inglewood, California. Rockhold and Bisping already have a somewhat infamous history with one another, as a long battle of
The time-honored UFC middleweight championship will once again be up for grabs when newly-crowned champion Luke Rockhold meets Michael Bisping in the main event of this weekend’s (Sat., June 4, 2016) UFC 199 from The Forum in Inglewood, California.
Rockhold and Bisping already have a somewhat infamous history with one another, as a long battle of trash talk lead to Rockhold eventually submitting “The Count” in the main event of November 2014’s UFC Fight Night 55 from Sydney, Australia.
The former Strikeforce champion was set to take on Chris Weidman, the man whom he just took the title from at last December’s UFC 194, but a neck injury to Weidman meant Bisping was one of few legitimate choices due to his recent win over all-time great former champion Anderson Silva.
So even though Bisping has already lost to Rockhold, he finally has his title shot, and that means “The Count” is going to run his mouth the way few can in the lead-up to this Saturday night. If that works out, however, it remains to be seen, as few are giving him a shot with recently dominant Rockhold a monstrous favorite.
We’ve seen that anything can happen in MMA, especially in recent months. Get prepared for the middleweight title fight with the full “Countdown to UFC 199: Rockhold vs. Bisping” video right here:
UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold is never one lacking for confidence, and most would agree that he probably shouldn’t be heading into his championship rematch against Michael Bisping in the main event of this weekend’s (Sat., June 4, 2016) UFC 199 from The Forum in Inglewood, California. Bisping finally got his first UFC title shot when
UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold is never one lacking for confidence, and most would agree that he probably shouldn’t be heading into his championship rematch against Michael Bisping in the main event of this weekend’s (Sat., June 4, 2016) UFC 199 from The Forum in Inglewood, California.
Bisping finally got his first UFC title shot when former champion Chris Weidman was forced to pull out of his rematch with Rockhold due to a serious neck issue, and the overall belief is that Rockhold will run through ‘The Count’ like he already did once before.
But apparently the champ thinks it will be a tougher fight than his original match-up with Weidman would have been.
During an interview with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour today (Tues., May 31, 2016) Rockhold caught word that Weidman, who had appeared on the show right before him, called his rematch with Bisping “the easiest title fight ever,” he refuted that notion by saying “The Count” is actually a harder fight thanks to his tactical approach:
“I think he mighta been easier. That’s my opinion. I think Bisping’s a little bit funner, you know, it’s more tactical, I’m going to enjoy it more, it’s going to be funner for the fans, where Weidman just kind of fights ugly and fights with his balls, comes forward and might get a little sloppy. I’d pick him off fairly early; I think he overextends. But Bisping, I can play around with him a little more and pick him off, and pick my kill shot. I think they’re both in the same department; I think I’ll finish this fight in similar fashion.”
Rockhold expanded on the viewpoint, stating that Bisping offers more opportunity to look for his shots and make adjustments:
“I like tactical battles, I like outsmarting them, I like adjusting and making my points, where Weidman just kind of fights like an idiot. He just runs forward and exposes himself and kind of overcommits and relies on his toughness, where Bisping tries to make it more tactical, and I enjoy that; that process of finding my shots and out-doing them; outsmarting them and putting them away.”
There’s no doubting that Rockhold’s technical skills have been a sight to behold since he was unceremoniously sent packing by a Vitor Belfort spin kick in his first UFC bout. That loss obviously motivated him to evolve into a new and more polished combatant, as he’s looked nearly untouchable ever since.
And for his first title defense of the vaunted UFC middleweight title, Rockhold is predicting he’ll outsmart Bisping and put him away like no one’s ever seen before. Read on to find out his bold prediction.
Although the dust has barely settled on yesterday’s (May 29, 2016) UFC Fight Night 88 from Las Vegas, Nevada, it is once again fight week here at LowKickMMA as UFC 199 is slated for this upcoming Saturday (June 4, 2016) live on pay-per-view (PPV) from The Forum in Inglewood, California. With fight week comes the
Although the dust has barely settled on yesterday’s (May 29, 2016) UFC Fight Night 88 from Las Vegas, Nevada, it is once again fight week here at LowKickMMA as UFC 199 is slated for this upcoming Saturday (June 4, 2016) live on pay-per-view (PPV) from The Forum in Inglewood, California.
With fight week comes the UFC’s patented Embedded series, and the first episode was released earlier today (May 30, 2016).
Take a look into the final stages of Dominick Cruz’s training camp in San Diego, California, as he gets ready to defend his bantamweight title in a highly-anticipated trilogy bout with Urijah Faber, who puts the finishing touches on his preparation just a few hours north in Sacramento.
Long-time divisional mainstay Michael Bisping spends time with his family ahead of his main event rematch with reigning champion and bitter rival Luke Rockhold, a bout he accepted on two weeks’ notice after ex-champion Chris Weidman was forced to withdraw with an injury.
A confident, and comical Rockhold finishes up his last day of training in sunny San Jose at the famed American Kickboxing Academy prior to the first defense of his 185-pound strap.
Check out the full episode below courtesy of the UFC:
UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold is at the pinnacle of the fight game heading into his UFC 199 rematch with late replacement Michael Bisping on June 4 from The Forum in Inglewood, California, but he’s looking to make a much, much bigger impact. Rockhold was originally supposed to face former champion Chris Weidman, whom he
UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold is at the pinnacle of the fight game heading into his UFC 199 rematch with late replacement Michael Bisping on June 4 from The Forum in Inglewood, California, but he’s looking to make a much, much bigger impact.
Rockhold was originally supposed to face former champion Chris Weidman, whom he ripped the belt from with a brutal fourth-round stoppage at last year’s UFC 194, in an immediate rematch, but a serious neck injury forced the oft-injured Weidman to the sidelines and opened a path for Bisping to finally get a long-awaited title shot that had eluded him in his 10-year UFC career.
Weidman may have seemed motivated to avenge a previous loss that was the first of his career, but when the news came that he was out, Rockhold told Dave Meltzer of MMA Fighting that he wasn’t surprised, as there were reasons available why he would. The champ did note that he knew Weidman’s injury was a serious one, however:
“I wasn’t surprised Weidman would fall out,” said Rockhold. “He’s always been a brittle character. Yeah, and with New York on the table, I thought he had a lot of things to pull him away from this fight. What he had it looks like he couldn’t push through from what it sounds like” Rockhold said. “It’s an unfortunate situation. I wish him the best to heal up. I don’t want anyone to get injured on that level.”
The timing may set up nicely for Weidman to return at the anticipated UFC 20 from his home state of New York this November, but he has to heal up fully first, and in the meantime, the title picture will get sorted out in California next weekend.
When Weidman’s injury became known, it was obvious that only a couple of elite middleweights were actually contenders. It became clear to Rockhold that Bisping was the choice when the other man, Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza needed minor knee surgery after his dominant win over Vitor Belfort at UFC 198, and Rockhold respects the British vet for stepping up:
“If you look at the division there were two obvious names (of replacements), Jacare (Souza) and Bisping,” Rockhold said. “Everyone else is a joke. At this point I haven’t seen anyone tear themselves from the pack. I think it was pretty obvious (who he was facing) when Jacare committed to having surgery. It was a pretty obvious choice, and Bisping wanted it. I respect Bisping for stepping up. He’s a courageous motherf******.”
Discussing their fight, which is a rematch of their first match-up at UFC Fight Night 55 in November 2014, Rockhold expressed his understandable excitement at defending the belt at The Forum in his home state:
“It excites me,” he said. “Being in California excites me. Inglewood, the first fight at The Forum. It’s going to be a fun event. I checked it out. There’s a lot of history in that building, NBA history, musical history, it’s a legendary concert hall. I’m looking to leave my mark at The Forum–on Bisping’s face.”
Never one to miss a stinging barb at his opponent, Rockhold then shifted his focus to the reason he’s evolved to such a high level as a fighter due to his pairing of his mental preparation with his already elite athleticism. The middleweight king then made the bold proclamation that he had mastered the mental and technical aspects of fighting so much that no one could match him in those areas, not even pound-for-pound king and all-time great former light heavyweight champion Jon Jones.
Read on to the next page to find out why Rockhold believes he’s become the best overall fighter MMA.
