Tag: Luke Rockhold

Michael Bisping Officially Retires From MMA

MMA just lost one of the greats:

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After more than 14 years in mixed martial arts, former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping has called it a career.

The brash, outspoken Brit officially announced his retirement on his Believe You Me podcast (via MMA Fighting) earlier today (Mon., May 28, 2018) after speculation believed he would take one final fight before calling it a career. That wasn’t the case according to “The Count”:

“So obviously I’ve teased this for a long time now, I might fight again, I might not. And unfortunately it’s not a fight that I’m announcing. I am going to announce my official retirement from mixed martial arts.”

One of the most successful fighters in UFC history, Bisping dealt with a disappointing streak as of late, losing to rising contender Kelvin Gastelum by brutal knockout at last November’s UFC Shanghai only three weeks after Georges St-Pierre choked him unconscious to take the middleweight belt from him at UFC 217.

It was largely thought he would take some time off to regroup and return to any number of retirement fights against names like Vitor Belfort, Lyoto Machida, and Luke Rockhold. But following years worth of injury to his right eye, “The Count” stated he had begun to see flashes in his left eye after the loss to Gastelum, which understandably had him concerned about his vision:

“I realized there’s no flash going on; it’s just my eye, and every time I look left, it flashes. And it still does it now when it’s dark,” Bisping said. “It’s light now so I can’t see it. So I started freaking out, thinking oh my God, I don’t believe this, I’ve got a detached retina in my good eye. I have problems with my bad eye, it doesn’t look good, so obviously I was kind of freaking out.”

The longtime veteran will go down as one of the best and toughest combatants the UFC and MMA have ever seen, owning the record for most wins in UFC history, most fights, and most significant strikes landed.

But after doctors said he had a vitreous detachment in his left eye, Bisping reached the decision to retire after watching The Journeyman, a film about a fighter who suffers health issues after taking one fight too many:

“I was watching this movie last night and I just thought, it ain’t worth it,” Bisping said. “It ain’t worth it. I mean, what else am I going to do? I’ve won the belt, I’ve had tons of wins, I’ve done everything that I set out to achieve. What’s the point in flogging a dead horse? Not that I’m a dead horse, but what’s the point? I’ve done everything that I set out to achieve, and fortunately now I’ve used my platform to open other doors. You know, you’ve got to know when to walk away. I’m almost 40 years old, the time is now. So, I want to say, first of all, thank you to my wife. Without her, it wouldn’t have happened. That’s a fact. She was incredible every single step of the way. My children. My dad. My dad was amazing. And of course everyone in the U.K. and around the world that supported me.

“So, yeah, there you go. Great career. That’s that. Thank you everybody.”

It was most certainly a great career from “The Count, who debuted in the UFC as the winner of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) season 3 at light heavyweight.

He moved down to middleweight and became one of the most consistent competitors at 185 pounds although it seemed like he may never become truly elite after losses in big spots to fighters like Chael Sonnen and Belfort. He proved those doubters wrong in a late-career surge, however, defeating Anderson Silva by a controversial decision and parlaying it into a short-notice title fight against then-champion Luke Rockhold to secure one of the biggest upsets in UFC history by stealing the belt in the very first frame at June 2016’s UFC 199.

Bisping then defended the title once against longtime rival Dan Henderson at October 2016’s UFC 204.

his manager Audie Attar released a statement to MMA Junkie congratulating his client on a great career:

“Congrats to Michael on a Hall of Fame career,” Attar said. “‘The Ultimate Fighter’ winner, two-time ‘Ultimate fighter’ coach, winningest fighter in UFC history and first British UFC Champion in history. I’ve been honored to work with Michael toward the championship years and have watched him fight through trials and tribulations as he was a perennial title contender, ultimately reaching the sport’s greatest achievement by winning a UFC championship.

“Through all that, he has achieved the one thing I’m most proud of – how hard he fought for his family’s future, risking his life on the line each time he stepped into the octagon. I am proud to call Michael a client, but more importantly a dear friend. Now it’s time for Michael to achieve greatness in the next phase of his professional career. The future looks bright, Mr. Bisping. Thank you for all that you’ve done for our sport!”

It’s safe to suggest any true fan of the sport of MMA will wish ‘The Count’ the same, and we at LowKick MMA wish him the best in all his endeavors.

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Graphic Images: Gruesome Leg Injury Sidelines Luke Rockhold

Luke Rockhold’s latest leg injury is not for the squeamish.

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Former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold won’t be returning to the octagon anytime soon.

Rockhold was rumored to be moving up to light heavyweight for a bout with two-time title contender Alexander Gustafsson at August’s UFC 227, but according to a report from MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani, a leg injury has postponed his return after he was brutally knocked out by Yoel Romero in his last bout at March’s UFC 221.

Rockhold reportedly re-injured the leg in training last week. He posted a gruesome video showing the stitches he received via Helwani on social media, putting his expected return in October at the earliest:

Gruesome to be sure, and a second video of the graphic scene detailed the stitching even further:

Rockhold took an injured left knee – the same leg which he’s getting stitched in the above videos – into his fight with Michael Bisping at June 2016’s UFC 199, a bout that is still considered one of one of the biggest upsets in mixed martial arts history when ‘The Count’ knocked him out in the first frame to become one of the more unlikely champions the UFC has ever seen.

Helwani said he reinjured the leg last week, although it appears this is a shin injury based on the videos shown.

Since losing to Bisping, Rockhold took over a year off to heal from the aforementioned knee injury and returned to defeat former WSOF two-division champ David Branch last September to earn a title shot at champ Robert Whittaker, who was forced out of their fight with his own long list of ailments.

Romero replaced him and stopped Rockhold, after which the former AKA standout said he was considering a move up to 205 pounds due to the draining weight cut to middleweight. That move will have to wait, at least for now.

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Six Huge Messes The UFC Should Have Avoided

Sometimes, the UFC shoots itself in the foot with problems that were easily avoidable. Whether it’s just bad matchmaking or more nefarious issues, the UFC has gone into crisis mode more often than they’d like to admit, and it seems like its been happening with concerning regularity lately. With mainstream media attention and publicity at […]

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Sometimes, the UFC shoots itself in the foot with problems that were easily avoidable.

Whether it’s just bad matchmaking or more nefarious issues, the UFC has gone into crisis mode more often than they’d like to admit, and it seems like its been happening with concerning regularity lately.

With mainstream media attention and publicity at an all-time high, the UFC needs to learn from their mistakes of the past to ensure a better product, but even as the world’s best MMA promotion by a wide margin, they could sometimes do much better in dealing with the curveballs the notoriously volatile fight game throws their way.

We broke down the six biggest messes the UFC could have easily avoided, and the results may surprise you:

Photo Credit: MMA Weekly

6. Jon Jones vs. Chael Sonnen

This match-up never made sense in the first place, yet the UFC insisted on putting it together.

They tried it at UFC 151 on short notice after Dan Henderson was forced out with a knee inury, which Jones declined. The UFC then canceled the entire card altogether.

Ignoring fate, they put on the fight at UFC 159 instead, and Jones predictably smashed Sonnen in the first round. However, Jones did break his toe in a freak accident while defending a takedown, and one wonders whether Sonnen could have won the belt had the bout gone past the first round. Jones’ big toe was completely broken in the most grotesque way; he had snagged it in a tear in the Octagon canvas.

But the writing was on the wall the entire time the UFC insisted on putting together a Jones vs. Sonnen title fight.

They tried to punish Jones for not accepting the bout on a week’s notice, yet in reality, it was the fans and other fighters on UFC 151 who were punished.

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Luke Rockhold on Light Heavyweights: ‘I Don’t Think They’re as Technical’

Luke Rockhold doesn’t believe the 205-pounders are as technical as fighters in other weight classes. Rockhold’s time as a middleweight appears to be over. The former UFC and Strikeforce 185-pound ruler has made middleweight his home since t…

Luke Rockhold doesn’t believe the 205-pounders are as technical as fighters in other weight classes. Rockhold’s time as a middleweight appears to be over. The former UFC and Strikeforce 185-pound ruler has made middleweight his home since the start of his career. After going 1-2 in his last three bouts and feeling the effects of […]

The post Luke Rockhold on Light Heavyweights: ‘I Don’t Think They’re as Technical’ appeared first on MMA News.

The 10 Most Unexpected Short-Notice Fights In UFC History

The matchmaking for this past weekend’s UFC 223 headliner had more twists and turns than a Hollywood blockbuster. However, it’s far from the only time in the promotion’s history that the UFC’s matchmakers have been left scrambling at the last minute to find short-notice replacements. In this article, we’ll look back at 10 classic examples […]

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The matchmaking for this past weekend’s UFC 223 headliner had more twists and turns than a Hollywood blockbuster.

However, it’s far from the only time in the promotion’s history that the UFC’s matchmakers have been left scrambling at the last minute to find short-notice replacements.

In this article, we’ll look back at 10 classic examples of new opponents unexpectedly materializing out-of-the-blue in the final days before a big event to ensure that the show could still go on.

Fred Ettish vs. Johnny Rhodes

You have to dig deep into the history books to find out the shortest-notice fight ever in UFC history.

The night before UFC 2 in March of 1994, alternate fighter Fred Ettish was informed that he wouldn’t be fighting on the show, but he was invited to help out behind-the-scenes to make sure that the other fighters had everything they needed and were ready to fight on time.

On the night, Ettish was working backstage when one of the UFC’s head honchos Rorion Gracie urgently approached and asked if he could step in at the last minute to replace Freek Hamaker, who had just injured his hand during his opening round victory in the tournament.

Ettish estimates he had as little as 10-20 minutes to prepare, in which time he had to gather his gear, cornermen and do the briefest of warm-ups, before heading out to fight his opponent, Johnny Rhodes.

Unfortunately for Ettish, his bravery that night didn’t pay off as a disappointing performance against Rhodes led to a first-round submission loss, while he then cruelly became something of a laughing stock among MMA fans at the time, though these days he’s become more fondly remembered and respected.

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Alexander Gustafsson Continues Assault On Luke Rockhold’s Move To Light Heavyweight

With champion Daniel Cormier heading up to heavyweight to face Stipe Miocic, top light heavyweight Alexander Gustafsson has recently been involved in a rivalry with former middleweight champ Luke Rockhold. The beef initiated when Gustafsson called out Rockhold, who has been hinting at a move to 205 following increasingly hard weight cuts, in the days after his […]

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With champion Daniel Cormier heading up to heavyweight to face Stipe Miocic, top light heavyweight Alexander Gustafsson has recently been involved in a rivalry with former middleweight champ Luke Rockhold.

The beef initiated when Gustafsson called out Rockhold, who has been hinting at a move to 205 following increasingly hard weight cuts, in the days after his vicious knockout loss to Yoel Romero at UFC 221 in February. Many criticized that move as incredibly bad given Rockhold would likely need a lengthy recovery from possibly the most earth-shaking knockout of 2018 thus far.

But Rockhold hasn’t shied away – quite the opposite.

He’s been in the headline for a litany of topics, and he added onto that by reacting to Gustafsson’s callout by promising he would be ‘coming for that a**.’

As expected, the Swede didn’t take kindly to that, quickly blasting Rockhold for being ‘chinny’ and calling his blaming of the weight cut an excuse. ‘The Mauler’ doubled down on his needling of Rockhold during a recent appearance on The MMA Hour as well, stating that his new rival opened the doors about his divisional shift and he only responded:

“First of all, he’s a good fighter, but he was saying a lot, that it’s easier to fight at 205 and just a lot of stuff.

“It feels like, to him, he was going up in weight just to have an easier fight, more or less, and I just told him that’s not case and here I am. So basically he was the one who started all of this, and I just followed up on it.”

As for his recent callout of Rockhold, who has lost two of his last three fights by way of brutal knockout, Gustafsson said he was only going on historical fact:

“I just go by facts,” Gustafsson said. “That’s all we’ve seen so far. And he thinks an easy thing coming up to light heavyweight, but I’m there to welcome him.”

‘The Mauler’ was thought to have a title shot in the wings after he demolished Glover Teixeira in an amazing match last May, but rising contender Volkan Oezdemir swooped in with three wins in 2017 when Gustafsson had surgery and was rapidly trounced by Cormier in January.

With the light heavyweight title picture uncertain for now as Cormier moves up to heavyweight for at least one bout, the title still remained the only goal of the towering striker.

If a shot isn’t available again, he said he would still settle for Rockhold and then move his focus to the championship:

“For me, it’s the belt basically. That’s my top priority right now because I feel like I’m the No. 1 contender and I’ve been fighting most of the guys in my division. So that’s my top priority. But if that can’t happen, I’m up for suggestions and we’re looking at, for example, Luke Rockhold, and then see if we can [figure] something good out.”

Gustafsson has lost two previous title bids in classic bouts with both decorated former champion Jon Jones and Cormier, and with Jones’ license revoked as he awaits his USADA sanctions for testing positive for anabolic steroids, ‘The Mauler’ doesn’t foresee a rematch with ‘Bones’ anytime soon, even if he wants one:

“He’s in a tough situation,” Gustafsson said.

“He feels like he’s too far away now. But if somehow he comes back, he has a way and he comes back, that’s also a fight I have to do. We need to do a second round, him and me, but let’s see how it plays out for him.”

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