UFC 199: Luke Rockhold set to make 1st UFC title defence
The UFC could see the crowning of two new champions this Saturday at UFC 199.
The main card, being held at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif., features a wide range of recognizable faces for mixed martial arts fans.
From Luke Rockhold (15-2) and Michael Bisping (28-7), to Dominick Cruz (21-1) and Urijah Faber (33-8), UFC president Dana White has put together a card riddled with notable names that has quietly found itself in the shadows of the highly-anticipated UFC 200 in July.
Despite the relative lack of attention for this event, it features two championship bouts that each have the potential to go five rounds.
Here's a preview of what to expect:
Rockhold vs. Bisping
As ring announcer Bruce Buffer would say, this is the main event of the evening. Rockhold, 31, will be defending his middleweight championship for the first time. His opponent, the 37-year-old Bisping, is a seasoned veteran of the fight game who just beat arguably the greatest UFC fighter in history, Anderson Silva, in an unanimous decision.
Rockhold was scheduled to fight Chris Weidman, the man who originally dethroned Silva as middleweight champion, in a rematch of UFC 194. But the 31-year-old had to withdraw from the fight on May 17 due to injury. On the same day, Bisping tweeted that he would be ready and willing to fight Rockhold on two weeks notice. A day later, the fight was officially announced.
This is not the first time these two men have met in the octagon. During a UFC Fight Night in November 2014, Rockhold submitted Bisping in the second round with a guillotine choke.
In an interview Monday with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, the champion said he would give the audience a "one-of-a-kind knockout" on Saturday. Meanwhile, Bisping has repeatedly said he will take the belt in California.
Cruz vs. Faber
These two bantamweights will fight for the third time Saturday. Cruz, the 31-year-old reigning champion, beat Faber in an unanimous decision in July 2011 during UFC 132. During their first bout in March 2007, Faber choked out Cruz with a guillotine while he was fighting under the World Extreme Cagefighting banner.
Cruz told MMA Junkie he respects the experience of Faber and claimed he's a fighter who knows how to survive. However, the champion said he is predicting a "rough night" for the 37-year-old. Back in April, Faber admitted Cruz is "very good" but added that the champion was not "made for battle," pointing at a number of fights Cruz has had.
The two were scheduled to fight their rubber match in 2012 at UFC 148 but Cruz pulled out of the bout due to injury.
More matches
- Max Holloway (15-3) is set to fight Ricardo Lamas (16-4) in a featherweight matchup. According to UFC rankings, Holloway is currently the No. 4 fighter in the 145-pound division, while Lamas is right behind him at No. 5.
- Dan Henderson (31-14) is the oldest fighter on the UFC roster at the age of 45. One of his most notorious knockouts came against Bisping at UFC 100. He will be suiting up to fight 38-year-old Hector Lombard (34-5-1, two no contests), a former champion in Bellator.
- Dustin Poirier (19-4) will square off against Bobby Green (23-6). Poirier just beat Joseph Duffy (14-2) by unanimous decision at UFC 195 while Green is coming off a loss to Edson Barboza (17-4) at a UFC Fight Night in November 2014.
