It took longer than he predicted, but Luke Rockhold settled his differences with Michael Bisping in decisive fashion.
Rockhold (13-2) came just short of delivering on his prediction of a first-round finish Saturday, ultimately submitting Bisping via guillotine choke at the 0:57 mark of the second round. The middleweight bout headlined UFC Fight Night 55 at AllPhones Arena in Sydney, Australia.
It was a spectacular final sequence for Rockhold. He dropped Bisping with a high left head kick and followed him to the floor with a left hand that nearly knocked him out cold. As Bisping (25-7) sought any kind of cover, Rockhold jumped on his neck with the guillotine, rolled him over and took full mount, where he produced a tap.
It's the ninth career submission win for Rockhold and extended his current winning streak to four.
Immediately after referee Herb Dean broke up the fight, Rockhold helped Bisping to his feet. The two had gone back and forth for more than two months, but expressed a mutual respect afterward.
"I don't think we'll ever be friends, but I have a lot of respect for Michael Bisping," Rockhold said. "He's a warrior. He works hard and gives it everything he has got, and I've got to respect that."
Bisping, who entered the fight a more than 4-to-1 underdog, never really found his rhythm. He struggled with the range and speed advantage of Rockhold, who took his time early in the fight but visibly grew in confidence as it continued. A healthy stream of left kicks to the body met Bisping every time he attempted to close distance, which eventually set up the high head kick that essentially ended the fight.
The two played nice after the result, but the pre-fight trash talk actually spilled into the contest itself. Within the first two minutes, Rockhold accidentally head-butted Bisping near his left eye as he closed on a bodylock attempt near the fence. Bisping immediately motioned to Dean to break the action and shook his head in disgust during the break. Rockhold raised his arms in a defensive gesture and motioned for Bisping to resume the bout.
Moments after the restart, Bisping complained again to Dean, arguing that Rockhold had his fingers extended toward his eye during an exchange.
Other than the verbal back-and-forth, the fight didn't offer much drama. Bisping attempted to set a pace on Rockhold and managed to land a clean combination near the end of the round, but Rockhold laughed after it happened and from then on rarely surrendered ground and showed little respect for Bisping's punching power.
A former Strikeforce middleweight champion, Rockhold was the No. 5-ranked middleweight in the world heading into the bout, according to ESPN.com. Another former Strikeforce title-holder, Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza (21-3) had been viewed as the unofficial next-in-line to fight for the title, after a scheduled bout between Chris Weidman and Vitor Belfort at UFC 184 in February. Rockhold, who defeated Souza via unanimous decision September 2011, called for the Brazilian in his next bout.
"All respect to Jacare, I'll beat you again," Rockhold said. "I'm the No. 1 contender and I'll prove it any time I have to. I'm the best out here. I'll get in there with anybody. It doesn't matter."
Souza is 4-0 in the UFC and has won his last seven bouts. He's coming off a submission win over Gegard Mousasi in September, after which he underwent surgery in his right elbow. He is expected back early next year.
Bisping, 35, dropped to 1-2 in his last three bouts. An eight-year UFC veteran, Bisping faces a potential career crossroads. Saturday's fight was widely viewed as perhaps his last opportunity at a title run. He has never fought for the UFC belt.
"I thought the first round was even," Bisping said. "I'm not sure, he caught me with something. More power to the motherf-----. Well done. It's back to the drawing board, but I'm not going anywhere. Don't you forget it."
The event broke a modern-day UFC record, as all 11 fights on the card ended in some kind of finish.
Iaquinta blows past Pearson
With his fifth victory in six fights, Al Iaquinta has formally introduced himself to the UFC's lightweight division.
Iaquinta (10-3-1) earned his second consecutive TKO finish, knocking out Ross Pearson in a mini-upset at 1:39 of the second round.
"This is the biggest win of my career," Iaquinta said. "Ross Pearson is a big name, an accomplished veteran and I finished him down in Australia. That's big for any lightweight."
The lightweight fight was very back-and-forth leading up to the finish, although it appeared Pearson was connecting the harder shots. It was Iaquinta, though, who scored the first knockdown early in the second round, dropping Pearson (16-8) with a counter right hand after blocking a head kick.
Pearson popped up to his feet immediately after getting floored, but could never quite clear the cobwebs. Iaquinta pressured his opponent back to the fence, where he battered him with short punches to the chin until the finish. A right cross to the chin put Pearson down for good.
Coming off a TKO over Gray Maynard in his last bout, Pearson looked sharp in the first round. He slipped Iaquinta's offense well and fired back with counter right hands. The British striker was active on his feet, cutting off the cage and drawing Iaquinta into multiple exchanges. The right hand was Pearson's most potent weapon early, which he landed to the body and head.
Iaquinta held his ground, however, and started to find his range as the fight progressed. Although it was Pearson who instigated the exchanges, Iaquinta landed several hard shots in them, including a few left hooks and right uppercut in close. He was stiffened at one point by a Pearson counter, but never appeared significantly hurt. He attempted one takedown late in the first round, which Pearson stuffed.
The TKO was Iaquinta's fifth career finish. Fighting out of Serra-Longo Fight Team, home of UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman, Iaquinta is 5-2 since coming off "The Ultimate Fighter 15." Pearson fell to 1-2 in his last three fights, including a controversial decision loss to Diego Sanchez in June.
"My game plan was to use a lot of fakes and early on I could see he was biting on them and that really helped me get the finish," Iaquinta said. "My coach, Ray Longo, puts me through the same workouts he puts Chris [Weidman], the middleweight champ through, so I know I'm getting the best training in the world. While I didn't use my wrestling tonight, he had to respect it and that opened up other avenues for me."
Whittaker finishes Hester with strikes
In a matchup between two promising former cast members of "The Ultimate Fighter," Robert Whittaker came away with a TKO victory.
Making his middleweight debut, Whittaker (13-4) showcased versatile standup en route to a second-round finish over Clint Hester. The stoppage came at the 2:43 mark, shortly after Whittaker dropped Hester with a knee to the chin.
"That went exactly how I wanted," Whittaker said. "I had my parents in the stands and I wanted to show them what kind of fighter I am."
There was no shortage of action in the 185-pound contest. Whittaker, who has previously fought at welterweight, got off to a blazing start before Hester (11-4) mounted a brief comeback. Facing a visible speed disadvantage, Whittaker leveled the playing field with technical, accurate striking from the start. After eating a spinning back elbow in the clinch early, Whittaker responded with a beautiful combination that wobbled Hester, starting with an inside leg kick and then a straight right to score a knockdown.
Hester managed to work back to his feet after the punch, but was quickly taken back down and he eventually allowed Whittaker to assume full mount. The 27-year-old Georgian reversed position to finish the first round on top, but clearly entered the break down on the scorecards.
As soon as the second round started, it was obvious Hester wanted to make up ground. It didn't start well for him, as he ate a straight jab by Whittaker and an overhand right. Nevertheless, Hester plowed forward with a haymaker of a right hand that grazed Whittaker. The two stood and exchanged punches in the center of the cage for a moment, before Whittaker finally circled out.
In the excitement, Hester might have punched himself out. He appeared to hit a wall shortly after that exchange, which Whittaker capitalized on. The Australian fighter came forward with punches before catching Hester with the knee from the Thai clinch. Hester didn't go out from the shot but was clearly done, as he covered up and waited for the referee to rescue him.
"I could tell I was hurting him so I just kept trying to press, even if that meant eating a few punches," Whittaker said. "The game plan was to slow it down but I was having so much fun in there I couldn't. I just wanted to keep slugging away. This new weight class is great because I feel I have so much more power and I don't have to go through those grueling cuts anymore."
Whittaker, who won "TUF: Smashes" in December 2012, moved to 4-2 in the UFC, including two finishes. Hester suffered the first TKO loss of his career and his first official setback inside the Octagon.
"I wasn't seeing where his punches were coming from," Hester said. "I had an off day today."
Palelei stops Harris in Round 2
Soa Palelei again proved he can be a menace once he takes a fight to the ground.
The Australian heavyweight notched his fourth UFC win in a second-round TKO over Walt Harris. The finish came shortly after Palelei's first takedown of the fight, after which he moved quickly into mount. Referee Leon Roberts stopped the bout due to strikes at 4:49 of the round.
"Every win is massive and this is no different," Palelei said. "Walt [Harris] is a tough opponent and is unique because of how long he is. My plan was to get on top of him because I knew if I did, he didn't have a chance."
Palelei (21-5) struggled to take Harris down in the bout, but took full advantage when he eventually did so. Harris (7-4), who accepted the fight on short notice after Palelei's original opponent, Daniel Omielanczuk, withdrew, looked good early on but faded quickly.
The story of the first round was Harris' takedown defense, as he managed to shrug off multiple single leg attempts by Palelei. Offense came at somewhat of a premium in the first five minutes, although Harris did land a resonating left kick to the body late in the round.
Palelei continued to apply pressure in the form of takedown attempts in the second round, and Harris started to wilt under the pace. His hands began to drop due to fatigue and anticipation of takedowns, which opened up combinations for Palelei. He bloodied Harris' mouth early in the second round with strikes and started to land the right hand with regularity.
With under two minutes left in the round, Harris planted and threw a haymaker left hand. Palelei easily ducked under and shot in, eventually dragging Harris to the canvas. It was a pretty quick finish from there, as an exhausted Harris turned his head and covered up from Paleilei's punches.
"[Palelei] hit me with a good straight right and that clogged me up and just really drained me," Harris said. "After that, I had nothing in the tank. I took the fight on shorter notice than I would've liked but I cant make excuses."
Palelei, 36 rebounded from a unanimous-decision loss to Jared Rosholt in June. Harris, who was cut by the UFC earlier this year and went 1-0 outside the promotion, falls to 0-3 overall in the Octagon.