2016 keeps on rolling out the high quality events with UFC 199 and its stunning main event.

The lead up to UFC 199 was underwhelming to say the least. The preceding event, UFC Vegas, was a fantastic card that was capped off by an electric knockout courtesy of hot young prospect Cody Garbradnt. Furthermore, the highly anticipated rematch between Chris Weidman and Luke Rockhold was changed to a rematch between Michael Bisping and Rockhold due to an injury Weidman sustained in camp.

The co-main event of UFC 199 was the rubber match between legends Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber. That fight itself felt more like a match-up that needed to be made now or never to capitalize on the two’s feud. Similarly to Rockhold vs Bisping II, the fight between Cruz and Faber didn’t necessarily seem like the most interesting fight stylistically that the division could offer.

Many believed Cruz was too tricky for Faber, and Bisping was not prepared for Rockhold. Essentially the two main event fights for UFC 199 were fun rematches, but they were not necessarily considered compelling. While the co-main event was exciting, it ended up being a masterclass performance for Cruz. The main event, on the other hand, was a fantastic and shocking performance for the underdog, Bisping.

Early in the fight Rockhold walked to the center of the cage with calm confidence, while Bisping assumed a tense kickboxing approach. Rockhold assumed his long southpaw stance with his right hand forward, whereas Bisping took his usual orthodox stance.

From the word “go” Bisping was pumping out plenty of left hand feints, while Rockhold was equally active with his lead hand. It is interesting to note that early in the fight Rockhold was placing his right foot inside of Bispings left foot. Rockhold’s foot placement made right-sided strikes able to travel quicker, and more openly to Bisping. The foot placement of the two also opened up a straighter path for Bisping’s rear power side, also his right, to Rockhold.

Notice in the sequence below that both men begin with their lead hands checking each other. Rockhold then begins to step to his left, moving his right foot inside of Bisping’s left. This newly claimed position opens a path for Rockhold’s jab. When Rockhold sees his opening, he snaps a jab off that Bisping slides away from. With Rockhold already walking to his left, the distance between Bisping’s right hand and Rockhold is shortened. Bisping notices the relatively open path and throws a right straight, left hook combo that Rockhold is able to walk away from.

Though both strikes fell short this sequence would set the tone for the rest of the fight. Rockhold spent most of his time trying to slide in with jabs and right hooks. With the proper spacing, Rockhold would launch a power left kick for good measure. When Bisping would try to get his boxing going against Rockhold, the latter would give ground while attempting to land his notorious check right hook.

In his past fights, Rockhold has landed some brutal counter shots that led to knockouts. Knowing this, Bisping did his best to not over extend. Rockhold’s aforementioned check right hook has been his money punch in the past.

Rockhold’s check right hook is a thing of beauty as he almost always lands it mid-combination to disrupt the striking of his opponent. The angle that it travels on almost always places it on the temple of Rockhold’s foes, stunning them. Below, we see it being used brilliantly to keep Bisping on shaky ground.

In the gif above Bisping leads with a jab and Rockhold counters with a right hook over the top. With Bisping on the defensive Rockhold continues his assault with a left straight. Bisping then plants his feet to fire back with a sloppy jab-cross combination, but Rockhold halts Bisping’s offense with another right hook over the top. Notice how from the beginning Rockhold was leaning away from Bisping, but never showing his backside to Bisping. Rockhold’s right foot was on the outside of Bisping’s left foot, putting the champion in a position to swat Bisping with his right hand, while not giving Bisping a dominant angle on Rockhold.

When Bisping’s head is on the inside of Luke’s right arm, he is in danger of being smacked with a check right hook. Although, as Bisping’s head moves toward the outside of Rockhold’s right arm, and closer to the backside of Rockhold’s shoulder, he lessens the danger of Rockhold’s check hook, and subsequent follow-up strikes.

Against Bisping, Rockhold was not always in a position to land his powerful retreating right hook. Perhaps it was Bisping’s tendency to move towards Rockhold’s back, or Rockhold’s attempt at ducking and sliding away which showed his back. Either way, Bisping often found himself near the back of Rockhold’s shoulder, thus lessening the possible effectiveness of Rockhold’s right hook.

Notice that after Bisping’s chase at 2:15 their stances are just about perpendicular to one another. Rockhold hardly had a prayer’s chance in hell at landing the hook he threw. All Bisping had to do was draw his head back slightly and Rockhold was left swinging at air with no hopes of a follow-up strike, save perhaps a spinning back kick, or front leg side kick. If Bisping had been standing more towards his own right, he would have been in front of Rockhold, thus increasing the possible effectiveness of the hook.

More importantly for Bisping, as he moves towards Rockhold’s back the latter can either concede the position, or turn to face his opponent. As one turns to face their opponent they run the risk of turning directly into a strike. Unfortunately for Rockhold, that is exactly what happened to him.

Above we see Rockhold actually landing his counter right hook before ducking and turning away to escape a Bisping return like he had been earlier in the fight. Notice how just as Bisping is initiating his flurry, Rockhold’s front leg is nearly touching Bisping’s rear leg. Rockhold is in a position that is more than perpendicular to Bisping, giving Bisping a dominant angle to attack the champion. Rockhold was not able to put enough distance between himself and Bisping, and the latter was moving directly behind the former’s shoulder. As Rockhold turned to face his opponent he turned directly into Bisping’s left hand, and the champion was barely conscious. Bisping pursued viciously pushing Rockhold to the cage with strikes. After a few unanswered punches, Bisping’s 10-year dream was realized and he became a UFC champion.

It’s hard to argue against the idea that Michael Bisping is the best he’s ever been. The man is on a four-fight win streak, with two of those wins coming against Anderson Silva and Rockhold. Lately, Bisping has been showing tight boxing ability, and he seems constantly ready to capitalize on opponents’ mistakes.

As for Rockhold, I do not know what his game plan was going into this fight. Rockhold seemed far too confident and relaxed in this short fight. Perhaps his grade II MCL sprain affected his mobility and performance. Alternatively, maybe Rockhold truly took Bisping lightly like he claimed.

Whatever the reason for his win, Bisping deserves all the props in the world for taking advantage of his opportunity. The Brit was being counted out by everyone, even his own son, and won the UFC middleweight title on two weeks notice. One man’s injury is another man’s opportunity, I suppose.

We only touched on one fight from UFC 199, but almost every fight is worth a watch. The next main event we will take a look at is the fight between Rory MacDonald and Stephen Thompson. Until then, stick around Cage Pages for more fight coverage.

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