UFC 199 Aftermath: On Michael Bisping and UFC title volatility

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Stipe Miocic wasn’t supposed to have a chance against Fabricio Werdum. Miesha Tate was supposed to be a way for Holly Holm to keep busy while she waited on Ronda Rousey’s return. Rousey herself thought she’d be able to outbox Holm. Only Conor McGregor’s most wild-eyed fans expected him to knock out Jose Aldo in a matter of seconds. Rafael dos Anjos was supposed to be Anthony Pettis’ disposable challenger of the month on the latter’s path to superstardom.

Into this pattern of unpredictability stepped Michael Bisping. Surely, this time, predicting an upset would be a bridge too far. “The Count” was supposed to be happy to be there, getting a short-notice title shot at age 37 in his adopted Southern California backyard as something of a lifetime achievement award.

This was an opportunity to erase the backhanded compliment of being the winningest fighter in UFC history to never get a title shot, in and of itself. Few actually expected Bisping to actually pull off the upset in his UFC middleweight title fight on Saturday night at UFC 199.

Luke Rockhold certainly didn’t. Nor most of the sellout crowd, as an air of disbelief permeated the Forum as Bisping celebrated his first-round knockout.

But Bisping’s victory is a cold hard fact, and here’s another: His win over Rockhold is the 11th UFC title change — not counting interim belts — dating back to UFC 185, less than 15 months ago.

Maybe this simply is a historical blip, a tumultuous stretch in which the next set of long-term champions are beginning to take root. Perhaps the new Anderson Silvas and Georges St-Pierres are about to emerge.

Or maybe this is the new normal: Big shows ending with guys like Miocic and Bisping running around the cage like wildmen, unable to quite comprehend what they just pulled off.

Time will tell.

In the meantime, cheers to Bisping. Whatever you want to say about his loudmouth demeanor, here’s a fighter who whose faith never wavered when he was presumed to be on the decline, even knowing his prime seemed derailed by cheaters and those operating in murky gray ethical waters. If nothing else, Bisping with a title belt in the USADA era is fitting, and for that, perhaps we should be grateful for this era of championship hot potato.

UFC 199 quotes

“God. That guy is such a di*k. I mean, you show your true colors after a fight, and that fu*king guy comes up to me like, ‘Do you know where you are?’ Like, I fu*king picked you up off the canvas and gave you respect. That guy is a piece of sh*t, and I want to fu*king come kill him next time around.” — Rockhold, not exactly holding back his feelings on Bisping.

“You just said I can’t compete with you. I knocked you out in the first round — cold. Have you seen that replay, buddy? Your head was bouncing around like a pinball machine. Watch it again. Obviously it didn’t sink in.” — Bisping’s retort.

“I don’t want to make any decisions emotionally, but knowing that in my mind there’s a possibility that might’ve been the last one. It was obviously a good one to have that and all my kids and everybody were able to come. It was a little more emotional.” —  Dan …

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