No one believed Michael Bisping would come off a movie set on 17 days notice to beat Luke Rockhold and win the UFC middleweight title in the main event of UFC 199. Rockhold was a 11-1 favorite and the only people who thought Bisping would were his family and fight team. Bisping has been defying odds his whole fight career and proved it once again in knocking out Rockhold at the 3:36 of the first to win the middleweight championship.
"Apart from my children and my wife, this is the greatest day of my life," Bisping told Joe Rogan.
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The fight was pretty even in the opening moments with Rockhold looking too relaxed. Bisping had his back near the cage and threw a jab to Rockhold's chest and then a short left to stun Rockhold. Bisping rushed Rockhold and hit him with a couple more punches to stun Rockhold again and the fight was put to a halt.
Dominick Cruz wanted to rid of Urijah Faber once and for all and put him in his rearview mirror at UFC 199. Cruz did just that to defeat Faber in their trilogy fight by unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 49-46) to retain the bantamweight title.
"It’s so good to be able to be here," Cruz told Joe Rogan. "I thought I lost this at one point, man."
After a shaky first round, Cruz went to work and did what he does best. He went in, went out and made Faber look silly. He rocked Faber in the second round and almost finished the former WEC featherweight champion.
Faber was reluctant for the rest of the fight to come at Cruz in fear of getting hit again and the champion took advantage. He did anything he wanted without fearing Faber would harm in.
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Cruz has now won 13 consecutive fights. After the fight, Faber was non-committal to what he was going to do next.
12:34: Main event time. Luke Rockhold defends the middleweight title against Michael Bisping. Who wins?
12:18: Round 5 to Cruz (10-9, 49-46). Same as the other three rounds. Faber just didn't have an answer and couldn't find another gear to match the pace for Cruz who is on another level.
12:12: Round 4 to Cruz (10-9, 39-37). Cruz rocked Faber with a right hand but was able to survive. Looked like Cruz hurt his hand in the process. Watching the fight, Cruz is miles ahead of Faber. Faber needs a finish to capture the title.
12:05: Round 3 to Cruz (10-9, 29-28). Cruz started to take control of the fight> He stunned Faber with a couple of punches and continued land shots and make Faber miss. Faber is reluctant to come in and keeps looking for the one big shot.
11:59: Round 2 to Cruz (10-9, 19-19). Cruz came out looking to be aggressive and did just that in landing an overhand left to drop Faber. Cruz went for the finish but Faber was able to survive. Cruz was able to control the rest of the round fighting like he always, getting in, getting out and making Faber miss.
11:53: Round 1 Faber (10-9). Pretty close round to score which could go either way. Faber scored a takedown and was able to land the cleaner shots.
11:44: Time for the co-main event as Dominick Cruz defends the UFC bantamweight title in a trilogy fight against Urijah Faber.
11:34: During a commercial for UFC 200, it was confirmed from what SN reported earlier that Brock Lesnar will make his return at the show against an opponent to be determined.
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11:30: Holloway defeats Lamas by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27). Holloway looked amazing. It looked like Holloway was going to finish Lamas in the first round, connecting on a series of combinations but Lamas survived. But Holloway continued to pour it on and overwhelm Lamas. He stuffed every takedown Lamas attempted and made Lamas look amateurish at times. It's time for Holloway to get a title shot. Nine wins in a row. Enough said.
11:04: In a key featherweight bout, Max Holloway meets former title challenger Ricardo Lamas. Holloway has won eight in a row and a win would likely secure a title shot.
11:01: The UFC announces Nate Diaz and Conor McGregor will meet again on August 20 in Las Vegas.
10:54: Henderson defeated Lombard by KO at 1:27 of the second round. The fight started out in a feeling out process until Henderson landed his patented "H-Bomb" but Henderson rushed in and Lombard judo tossed him to the mat. Lombard had an inverted armbar but Henderson escaped and got up. Lombard hit a powerful overhand left which dropped Henderson and Lombard pounced and tried to finish the fight. But Henderson survived the round.
The second round had both guys continuing to throw caution to the wind. Henderson then threw a right high kick that stunned Lombard. Henderson landed an elbow to crumble Lombard to the mat. Two vicious ground and pound punches later, the fight was stopped. After the fight, Henderson was non-committal to his next move. If he's going to retire, this is a way to do it.
10:39: Up next in middleweight action, Hector Lombard battles Dan Henderson. This is Lombard's return to 185 pounds and this is the last fight on Henderson's UFC contract. Must win fight for both fighters.
10:25: The UFC announces that Don Frye is the latest inductee into the UFC Hall of Fame, which takes on July 10 in Las Vegas. Frye won UFC 8 and the Ultimate Ultimate 96. He fought the likes of UFC Hall of Famers Mark Coleman and Ken Shamrock. Well deserved and congrats to the bearded one.
10:21: Poirier defeats Green by KO at 2:53 of the first round. Green's antics did him in as he wanted Poirier to engage and the American Top Team fighter obliged when he dropped Green with a left hook and it was all "The Diamond" after that. Moments later, he clocked Green with another left and it was all she wrote. Great performance by Poirier as he runs his record to 4-0 at 155 pounds. He said after the fight he wants a big fight and hopefully the UFC gives him what he wants. It's time to see if Poirier can hang against the elite in this weight class.
10:09: Dustin Poirier vs. Bobby Green kicking off the UFC 199 main card in lightweight. This is Green's first fight since 2014 due to injuries and Poirier looks to run his record to 4-0 since he returned to 155 pounds.
10:01: Time for the UFC 199 main card on pay-per-view. Buckle up! If the undercard was any indication, we are in for a dynamite main card.
9:58: Ortega defeated Guida by knockout at 4:40 of the third round. All I can say is WOW!! Guida won the first two rounds and was controlling the fight. Ortega seemed flustered by Guida's unorthodox movement and didn't seem to have an answer. The LA native let it all go in the third and final round. He was connecting more, being the aggressor and landed a flush knee to send Guida to dream street. Unbelievable comeback by Ortega who now runs his record to 11-0.
9:36: In the feature preliminary fight, Clay Guida fights Brian Ortega in a featherweight bout. Big step up in competition for the undefeated Ortega.
9:20: Dariush blasts Vick to win by KO at 4:16 of the first round. Dariush was a man on a mission and kept pounding Vick with his left hand. He wobbled Vick on more than one occasion and it was just a matter of time before Dariush sealed the deal. Have to Dariush a lot of credit. He lost to Michael Chiesa six weeks ago to snap his five-fight winning streak and wanted to get back inside the octagon so bad and get the nasty taste out of his mouth.
9:10: Up next, Beneil Dariush faces off against James Vick in lightweight action. Huge fight for Dariush.
8:56: Andrade defeats Penne by TKO at 2:56 of the second round. Andrade looked like a whole new fighter at 115 pounds. She looked more quick, explosive and Penne had no shot whatsoever. We have a new player in the women's strawweight division.
8:37: Jessica Andrade makes her debut next at women's strawweight when she fights former title challenger Jessica Penne.
8:30: Caceres defeated Miller by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28). A very good first round for Caceres. He controlled the octagon with his speed landed the crisper shots. The man known as "Bruce Leeroy" did more of the same in the second round and Miller looked lost and confused. Miller came out like a man possessed in the third round. He locked in a deep armbar but Caceres somehow got out of it. Then at the end of the fight, Miller snuck in a rear-naked choke but the final horn sounded. I don't know which judge had it 30-27 since Miller had Caceres in more danger and nearly ended the fight on two occasions. Great performance by Caceres. Was the best we have seen from him in a long time.
8:07: To kickoff the Fox Sports 1 prelims, Cole Miller fights Alex Caceres in featherweight action. Miller was originally scheduled to fight BJ Penn but Penn was pulled from the fight about ten days ago due to a USADA violation for revealing he took an IV in March.
8:00: The prelims move to Fox Sports 1. Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan state UFC 199 is dedicated to Muhammad Ali.
7:57: A great highlight package of Muhammad Ali by the UFC at the beginning of the Fox Sports 1 prelims. It's hard not to have tears in your eyes watching this.
7:56: UFC really promoting legendary heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko fighting Fabio Maldonado on June 17 on Fight Pass.
7:53: Strickland skates by as he defeats Breese by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28). Well it wasn't like what have seen thus far. It seemed like Breese won the first round but not much happened. The second was much of the same as the crowd at The Forum booed both fighters when the round ended. The third and final round was looking the same until Strickland scored a big flurry near the end of the fight.
8:35: In the featured bout on Fight Pass, Sean Strickland squares off against Tom Breese in welterweight action. This should be another good one.
7:29: da Silva defeats Wilson by TKO at 4:11 of the second round. Another action packed fight. da Silva and Wilson traded heavy shots in the first round but Wilson landed a little bit more. After getting dropped in the second round by a left hook, da Silva pulled off an amazing sweep into full mount and went to work landing ground and punches. Wilson couldn't defend himself and the referee stopped the fight. Let's hope the next fight continues the trend on the Fight Pass prelims.
7:17: Henrique da Silva vs. Jonathan Wilson up next in light heavyweight action.
7:10: Casey and Mutapic battle to a split draw (29-28, 28-29, 28-28). It seemed like one oif the judges scored the third round 10-8 for Mutapic which is a horrible score. There's no way Mutapic dominated the entire round and Casey just sat on his hands. He did have some offense but seemed content on riding out the round thinking he was up two. Have to give Casey a lot of credit for stepping up and still fighting when he had every reason not too.
6:48: Kevin Casey fights Elvis Mutapic in middleweight action. Casey is the son-in-law of the late Muhammad Ali, who passed away on Friday at the age of 74.
6:43: What a way to kickoff the night as Reyes wins by third-round TKO. Reyes and Kim played rock-and-sock-em robots with each guy trading vicious punches throughout the first and second rounds. The fight stayed that way in the third and final round until Reyes landed a powerful right hand and a couple ground and pound punches later, the fight was stopped. Let's see how the res tof the night plays out.
6:20: The first fight of UFC 199 begins on UFC Fight Pass as Polo Reyes faces ”Maestro” Dong Hyun Kim in lightweight action.
6:15: Welcome to our coverage of tonight's UFC 199. We will have live play-by-play coverage all night long.
Steven Muehlhausen is an MMA and boxing writer and contributor for Sporting News. You can find his podcast, The Fight Club Chicago , and subscribe on iTunes . You can email him at [email protected] and can find him on Twitter @SMuehlhausenMMA .
