Michael Bisping stops Luke Rockhold to claim title in UFC 199 stunner

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Michael Bisping won the UFC middleweight championship with a stunning first-round knockout of Luke Rockhold on Saturday night, earning his first title at UFC 199 after 10 years and 26 fights in the promotion.

Bisping (30-7) spectacularly won the UFC 185-pound title just more than two weeks after accepting the bout as an injury replacement for former champion Chris Weidman.

Bisping abruptly knocked down Rockhold midway through the round with a left hand to the jaw of the backpedaling champion. Rockhold bounced back up and engaged Bisping, who knocked him down for good with another left hand, finishing the champion with 1:24 left in the round.

Bisping, an Englishman fighting out of Orange County, had never fought for a title in a decade with the UFC.

“This was my dream. Nobody was taking this away from me,” Bisping said. “Two weeks? Two days, two hours, two minutes. I’ll fight anybody on a moment’s notice.”

Dominick Cruz also defended his UFC bantamweight title with a clear unanimous decision over Urijah Faber, settling a nine-year feud in the third bout between the two California fighters.

But the crowd at the historic Forum south of downtown Los Angeles was left in disbelief by the main-event heroics of Bisping.

The 37-year-old veteran was on set in Toronto – playing a villain in a new Vin Diesel movie – when he got the call to replace Weidman, who had to drop out of the rematch with a neck injury.

Bisping immediately began trading insults with Rockhold, who won his title in December with a fourth-round stoppage of Weidman. Although Bisping acknowledged he was an underdog, the loquacious brawler claimed he had learned enough to shock the world while losing to Rockhold by second-round submission 19 months ago in Sydney.

Turns out it wasn’t just talk from Bisping, who couldn’t contain his emotions when the title belt was wrapped around his waist.

Cruz (22-1) largely dominated his 13th consecutive victory and his first title defense since reclaiming the 135-pound belt earlier this year after four years of injury setbacks. Although Cruz never appeared to be close to a stoppage, the clear victory was even sweeter coming against Faber (33-9), his longtime rival.

“Nothing surprising,” Cruz said about the win. “I’m just glad I’m here. It feels so good to be able to compete again. I thought I lost this at one point.”

Faber’s beef with Cruz began in 2007 and it never cooled during their two previous bouts and Cruz’s years out of the sport with knee woes that forced him to vacate the title. Faber beat Cruz in their first meeting nine years ago, but Cruz evened the series with a rematch victory in 2011.

The bantamweights opened their bout at a breakneck pace, but Cruz landed the majority of the biggest punches, including a shot that dropped Faber early in the second round. Cruz repeatedly tagged Faber with left hands while largely staying out of range for Faber, who grew frustrated with his inability to engage the champion in the final four rounds.

“He caught me in the second,” Faber said. “Trust me, he’s got a little power. He’s a heavy hitter.”

Although the 37-year-old Faber is among the most accomplished fighters in MMA history, he has lost seven consecutive championship bouts dating to the defunct WEC promotion in 2008. Afterward, Faber said he plans to think about retirement.

Dan Henderson also knocked out Hector Lombard with a spectacular back elbow to the head in the second round, giving the beloved 45-year-old veteran his third victory in nine fights.

Henderson (32-14) also indicated he is strongly considering retirement from his 19-year professional career after he knocked the 38-year-old Lombard stiff with an elbow while Lombard (34-6-1) was holding his leg. Henderson, who fought at UFC 17 in 1998, posed for photos in the cage with his wife and four children, who all attended one of his fights together for the first time.

“We’ll see what happens, but that could have been the last one of my career,” Henderson said.

Featherweight contender Max Holloway also won his ninth consecutive fight, decisively beating Ricardo Lamas.

The UFC paid tribute to Muhammad Ali with a highlight video narrated by President Dana White, who praised Ali’s anti-war activism and leadership. The Forum crowd spontaneously broke into several chants of “Ali! Ali!”