Michael Bisping's 5 most memorable UFC fights

#4 vs. Luke Rockhold – UFC 199 – 06/04/16

Bisping upset Luke Rockhold to capture UFC gold in 2016

Even after his remarkable win over Anderson Silva, Bisping wasn’t expected to find himself in a UFC Middleweight title match any time afterwards. But when a planned title fight between champ Luke Rockhold and former champ Chris Weidman fell through due to a Weidman injury, the Brit was the natural replacement – he had an existing beef with Rockhold and of course, was coming off the biggest win of his career.

The only problem? Rockhold had destroyed Bisping less than a year prior to the fight, dropping him with a head kick and then using a one-armed guillotine choke to submit him. Essentially, nobody was giving Bisping a chance in hell – Rockhold appeared to have improved since then too, and had all the advantages over ‘The Count’ – on paper at least.

But at UFC 199, we were reminded again why the winner of any fight isn’t decided on paper by studying statistics. Rockhold simply came in too confidently, too sure that he had Bisping’s number. He began to pick at the Brit with his trademark kicks – particularly to the body – but it soon became apparent that he wasn’t exactly keeping his hands high to protect himself.

And about halfway through the round, Bisping capitalised. He hit Rockhold with a beautiful counter left hand and despite never really showing knockout power throughout his career, it was enough to put the champion down, hard. He managed to pull himself up, but Bisping hit him with the same punch again and this time he didn’t allow Rockhold any chance to recover, finishing him off with a series of short shots that left him unconscious on the fence.

Somehow, against all odds, Bisping had captured the UFC Middleweight title at the first time of asking – after falling short of gaining a title shot so many times in the past. It was not only one of the biggest upsets in UFC history, but it was also one of the most emotionally pleasing moments in promotional history too, as all of the blood, sweat and tears that Bisping had put in over a decade had finally paid off.