UFC 199: Rockhold vs Bisping (PPV) – live results, discussion, play by play

Join us tonight on Bloody Elbow for live, round-by-round coverage of the UFC 199: Rockhold vs. Bisping pay-per-view (PPV) event from The Forum in Inglewood, California.

Dashing middleweight champ Luke Rockhold will make his first title defense against polarizing British provocateur Michael Bisping in the main event. Another belt is on the line in the co-main event, a bad-blood rubber match between bantamweight champ Dominick Cruz and his longstanding nemesis Urijah Faber.

Rounding out the five-fight PPV card: featherweights Max Holloway vs. Ricardo Lamas, middleweights Hector Lombard vs. Dan Henderson and, in the opener, lightweights Dustin Poirier vs. Bobby Green.

Live play-by-play will commence with the PPV broadcast at 10 p.m ET. The full lineup and schedule follows. Take a gander at this week’s MMA Vivisection for predictions, analysis and betting odds on the entire UFC 199 card.

UFC 199 Main Card
(PPV, 10 p.m. ET)

Luke Rockhold vs. Michael Bisping

R1: Bisping starts with a front-leg side kick to the knee. Rockhold keeps him at bay with a long front kick to the body. Busy jabs from Bisping and he follows with a one-two. Quick outside low kick from Rockhold but his left high kick is blocked. Rockhold glances with a left cross and lands a left kick to the body. Bisping answers with a rear-leg body kick.

Rockhold, seeming almost annoyed at the fact that Bisping is throwing strikes his way, goes to the body with a front kick, then taps the lead leg with a low kick. Another glancing left cross from Rockhold and a sharp body kick to the ribs. Bisping follows a one-two with a precise left hook that careens into Rockhold’s jaw, and it drops him. Rockhold gets back to his feet and the Brit clobbers him with another left hook, and Rockhold is down and out. We have a new middleweight champion.

Dominick Cruz vs. Urijah Faber

R1: Cruz counters a Faber knee with a single leg, finishing it. Faber goes for a guillotine that’s not there, then switches to double butterfly guard. Cruz fakes one way and passes the other into half guard but Faber sits up and scrambles to his feet. Cruz keeps him in the clinch and Faber starts to lose his drawers. Faber rolls out of Cruz’s takedown attempt.

Cruz corners him on the cage and goes for a double leg that Faber again rolls out of, and he escapes back to his feet after a short struggle. Faber tags him with a lead right that he jogs into. Cruz, moving a bit clumsily on his heavily wrapped left ankle, hunches over with a failed takedown attempt. 10-9 Cruz in a close one.

R2: Cruz unreels a long straight left from southpaw and it drops Faber on his can. Cruz pounces with punches but Faber quickly recovers and scrambles to his feet. Cruz catches him with another clean shot in open space. Glancing double jab from Cruz, followed by a low kick. Faber tries to catch the next outside low kick to no avail.

Cruz’s movement, while perhaps not as fluid as usual, is mounting in effectiveness and opening up striking opportunities. Faber is busy trying to decipher his opponent’s motion and light on offense while Cruz leads the dance with forward engagement. Glancing front kick to the body and a left hand for Cruz though Faber answers with a counter. 10-9 Cruz.

R3: Cruz lands an outside low kick and glances with a left hand over the top. Cruz falls to his knees while transitioning to a takedown, then gets up and pops Faber with a short right. Inside low kick and a straight right to the face from the champ. Another inside low kick for Cruz. Cruz clips him with an off-tempo left to the face.

Another glancing combo from Cruz, who is now building momentum with his awkward striking ensemble. Faber too busy defending and not throwing enough to stay competitive, especially when contrasted with Cruz’s relentless work rate. Faber sidesteps a Cruz takedown attempt and then shoves him after the bell. 10-9 Cruz.

R4: Despite his corner’s direction, Faber comes out looking to play off Cruz’s rhythm and counter. Cruz lands a short jab, then shrugs off Faber’s halfhearted attempt at a reactive takedown. Two glancing jabs from Cruz. Faber glances with a right kick to the body and Cruz can’t catch it. Cruz sidesteps into the pocket an tags Faber with a right.

Faber commits to a right hand and Cruz dings him with a counter right, then looks to flurry as Faber covers up. Faber hesitantly throws an occasional single shot while backpedaling to keep some distance from Cruz’s constant pressure. 10-9 Cruz.

R5: Cruz pivots left with a salvo of uppercuts. Faber catches him clean with a right hand, his best shot in a while. Cruz lands a jab and Faber glances with a counter. Cruz glances with a left hook. The champion continues to form elaborate angles with his footwork and pressure Faber with nonstop combinations.

Cruz hits a takedown with 90 seconds left. Faber rolls onto his hip and shrimps out, then stands back up and separates. Rear uppercut lands for Cruz after a stance switch. 10-9 Cruz. I have it a clean sweep at 50-45 Cruz.

Max Holloway vs. Ricardo Lamas

R1: Holloway dings Lamas with a front-leg side kick, then pivots left while glancing with quick rights as Lamas regains his balance. Right hand is there for Holloway, then a glancing left hand and left high kick. Lamas backs him off with a one-two and lands a low kick. Holloway cuts an angle to set up a blitz with his hands that rocks Lamas.

Lamas recovers and shoots a takedown that’s stuffed, then nearly gets reversed. Lamas is able to stand back up and separate unscathed. Lamas lands an inside low kick, then gets in on a single leg. He uses it to steer Holloway onto the fence, where he switches to a single leg. Lamas tries to peel Holloway off the cage but the Hawaiian escapes. Hollow follows a left/right combo with a spinning heel kick that Lamas manages to block at the last second. 10-9 Holloway.

R2: Lamas compensates for Holloway’s backward movement and lands a low kick. Holloway glances with a left hand, then with two rights before switching stances with Lamas backed into a corner. Holloway blocks a heavy high kick and drills Lamas with two right crosses. Holloway stays on the trigger but Lamas sits down on back-to-back right hands, landing both clean.

Lamas shoots and Holloway counters with the front headlock to stave it off. They trade lead right hooks. Lamas again uses a single-leg attempt to put Holloway on the cage but gets caught in a choke when Holloway counters with the front headlock. Holloway spins to back control, looking for a rear-naked choke. Lamas prevents him from getting any hooks and Holloway bails on the choke to cleave Lamas with an elbow to the head. 10-9 Holloway.

R3: Lamas comes up short on the cartwheel kick. Holloway dabs his chin with a short right. They narrowly avoid a clash of heads when mutually engaging. Glancing right hand from Holloway, then a short left. Lamas lands a lead left and an outside low kick. Another outside low kick from Lamas.

Lamas fakes low and comes high with a kick but Holloway gets a glove in front of it. Lamas clinches and Holloway keeps him at bay with a strong cross-face, then lands a left knee to the ribs before separating. Lamas grazes with a right high kick before they trade rights. Front-leg side kick to the knee from Lamas, prompting a flurry from Holloway. They end up in the clinch and Lamas disengages with a crafty spinning back elbow. They both agree to some sort of unspoken agreement to close the round throwing heaters at each other. 10-9 Holloway. I have it 30-27 his way.

Dan Henderson vs. Hector Lombard

R1: Henderson is just off with a straight-right counter on Lombard’s opening left hand. Henderson lands a low kick, uncharacteristically, then steps into a short right that briefly stuns Lombard, and he ratchets back his forward aggression a little. Lombard walks straight into another short right and it staggers him.

As Lombard is wobbling backwards, Henderson pounces with a combo but he, in turn, walks into a Lombard punch. They clinch up and Lombard takes Henderson down from the clinch, looking for a crucifix. Henderson squirms out of the bad position and escapes to his feet, but eats a left shovel punch from Lombard, knocking him off-balance and to the ground. Lombard dives into Henderson’s full guard. 10-9 Lombard.

R2: Lombard cranks off a left kick to the body. Henderson just misses with the “H-bomb.” Lombard looking to counter Henderson’s big shot with a straight left down the middle. Out of nowhere, Henderson steps into the pocket with a nasty right high kick that arcs over Lombard’s shoulder and directly into his jaw, then he somehow manages to clip Lombard with a back-elbow to the temple. The dastardly concoction lays Lombard out cold.

Dustin Poirier vs. Bobby Green

R1: Poirier steps off-center and lands a counter right hook. Now it’s a counter left hook from Green, followed by an inside low kick. Poirier answers with a chopping outside low kick. They trade left hands to the face but Poirier stays on the trigger, dropping Green with a nasty left cross just as Green starts talking to him. Poirier swarms with punches but Green bounces off the canvas and throws return fire.

Poirier drills him with another left cross and Green looks at least partially out of sorts. Poirier bounces off the fence with a meatball of a left hand, and it folds Green despite glancing across the temple. Poirier dives in with a right hand and the fight is waved off.