It’s funny to think how unbelievably perfect the rivalries will culminate in both the main event and co-main of Saturday’s UFC 199 pay-per-view show from the world famous The Forum arena in Inglewood, California where four elite MMA fighters will be up to no good.
The main bouts feature 4 fighters who are either originally from or training out of and residing in the state of California. Therefore, you just know that The Forum is going to be packed to the gills with family and friends of each competitor- hopefully security is beefed up for precautionary reasons. As an added bonus, those two prestigious matches feature former champs and current champions from some of the most relevant and important MMA organizations of the last decade.
Rockhold vs. Bisping II – 5 Round UFC Middleweight Title Bout
The headlining match of the evening features the last Strikeforce 185-pound champion in the organization’s history and current UFC middleweight title holder, Luke Rockhold (15-2) defending against former Cage Warriors and Cage Rage light heavyweight champion, Michael “The Count” Bisping (28-7). Their issues go back some years to a friendly sparring session whose outcome and story have morphed into a tale that rivals the supposed 1947 UFO crash landing in New Mexico because of its complete lack of stability and consistency. One man claims that the “loss” that night was nothing more than two top guys helping one another for future bouts and to stay in shape so marking it in the L column is simply irrelevant. On the other hand, Bisping claims to remember all too well just how dominant he was at the time of this engagement to the point of declaring himself as the uncrowned Strikeforce champion when the dust had settled.
Regardless of how nonsensical the closed doors, head gear & shin guard-fused outing was or as pertinent to the record books that it may be, the two top 185ers did officially meet as the headliners to a UFC fight night November of 2014 in Sydney, Australia. Both men were steadily climbing the mountain towards the upper echelon of the division therefore it was inevitable that they meet with the winner getting one step closer towards the gold. That night Luke Rockhold submitted Michael Bisping inside of 2 rounds via his slick ground game thanks to a guillotine choke. Rockhold moved past the heat between them with Bisping seemingly over the whole thing, but not as much as many had hoped since to him they were now 1-1 in their rivalry.
As luck would have it The Ultimate Fighter season 3 winner currently resides in California and Lady Luck smiled at him when the original opponent, Chris Weidman stepped out of the match due to injury and British MMA pioneer was called upon as a replacement. It may have been with just 2 weeks’ notice but it almost seems like fate itself wants Rockhold and Bisping to settle the score in front of anyone whose opinion matters. The 185lbs champion was born in California and trains out of California’s AKA gym and Bisping relocated to California where he also trains for his fights. The only thing that could be the icing on the cake would be if this grudge match was for a UFC world middleweight belt. Well, consider the icing used up in this equation thanks to two guys with a serious bone to pick and a genuine dislike for one another which has spilled over into heated face-offs, press conferences and downright grimy and disrespectful interviews for the world to see. Lastly, both combatants are coming off of their biggest wins to date. Rockhold with his upset victory over Chris Weidman this past December to capture the UFC 185-pound strap and Bisping coming off of his upset over living legend, Anderson Silva, via unanimous decision February of this year.
For those pundits pointing to Rockhold as an 11-1 favorite for the reason that an upset can’t happen with only two weeks’ notice I’m sure are going to hear endless rebuttals from those pointing towards March’s shocker at UFC 196 when Nate Diaz submitted heavy favorite, Conor McGregor, with the exact same amount of time to prepare for the battle.
Cruz vs Faber III – 5 Round UFC Bantamweight Title Bout
In the co-main event you have former WEC 145-pound champion, “The Califonia Kid” Urijah Faber (33-8) challenging for UFC gold for the 4th time in his career against reigning UFC 135-pound title holder and former WEC 135-pound champion, Dominick “Dominator” Cruz (21-1). As a matter of fact, the single blemish on the San Diegan’s almost perfect MMA record just so happens to be against Faber back during their World Extreme Cagefighting days. The roots of this rivalry date back to their first collision March of 2007 in Las Vegas for Faber’s 145lbs WEC belt. That night at The Hard Rock it took “The California Kid” all of (1:38) of Round 1 to submit Cruz via his patented guillotine choke. What adds kerosene to this fiery rubber match is that these extremely talented warriors are one a piece in their rivalry. Cruz avenged the WEC 26 loss when they had a rematch at UFC 132 in Las Vegas in July of 2011 where “Dominator” took a clear unanimous decision. That battle was for the inaugural UFC 135-pound title which Cruz claimed but to this day Faber disputes the judges’ scorecards.
Now, these gifted men will meet for the third and final time at UFC 199. It’s no secret that Faber creeping up closer to 40 years of age means he’s leaning towards the end of his career. Luckily, the Californian has invested wisely in multiple ventures and businesses outside of the Octagon but regardless of his preparation for success away from the cage, everyone knows that UFC belt has eluded him and it would be the ultimate feather in his cap as he gets closer to the finish line. What better way to start writing the perfect ending to his storied career than with a championship victory over his most despised adversary in his home state amongst family and loved ones?
Cruz has missed out on some of his prime due to recent back to back injuries but even with having only 2 bouts in the last 4 years he still looks as good as ever and is extremely motivated to settle this score once and for all. There are few men that can match his conditioning in the ring, equal his cage IQ, and glide on that Octagon floor like he does and he will need those tools to avenge the one loss on his record while ending the rivalry with “The California Kid”.
Its rather fitting that all of these Californians are going to settle the score on the West Coast in an arena rich in combat sports history. Sometimes the story between enemies is difficult to understand and hard to write, and sometimes it just writes itself.