UFC 199 goes down Saturday night in California, and it’s a card filled with title fights, legends and some of the most-exciting fighters on the UFC roster. Let’s get you jacked for the event with The Completely Epic UFC 199 Preview.
Say, speaking of the UFC roster…
Bisping: Half of UFC Roster Are Pussies
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UFC 199 was supposed to feature a rematch between middleweight champion Luke Rockhold and Chris Weidman, but Weidman was forced to withdraw due to injury. In his place will be the one-and-only Michael Bisping, who will finally get his title shot after more than a decade in the UFC. Bisping is supremely confident and extremely pumped for this fight, but he also laid some harsh criticism on his fellow fighters.
Been There, Done That
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Bisping has always been title-worthy when it comes to his mouth. He can talk trash with the best the UFC has to offer. But can he beat Luke Rockhold to become the new UFC middleweight champion? These two have already done battle, back in 2014. Before that fight, Rockhold was asked what he does better than Bisping. His reply? “Everything.”
He then proved that in the cage by denying any offense put up by Bisping and choking him out in the second round. He barely broke a sweat.
Has anything changed since then? Yes. Rockhold is now the champion, getting the belt by laying a life-altering beating on Chris Weidman and handing him the first loss of his career. He’s even better than he was the first time they fought.
Bisping is merely older and critics say he has slowed some in recent years. Yes, he beat Anderson Silva in his last fight, but Rockhold is the new Silva, and he will brutalize Bisping to retain his title. Styles, metrics, tarot cards — I just don’t see a scenario in which Bisping wins. Rockhold will make it his point to give Bisping a beating in this fight, and he will remain the champ. He even said it himself: “(Fans) are gonna see a one-of-a-kind knockout. Something they’ve never seen before. I’m gonna put on a clinic,” Rockhold said.
Weidman: Bisping is Easiest Title Fight Ever
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While Weidman can’t fight right now due to his injury, he certainly had opinions on what will go down without him at UFC 199. Appearing on The MMA Hour, Weidman said Bisping is the “easiest title fight in the history of title fights.” Bisping being Bisping, he couldn’t let that go.
“Chris Weidman is a very, very bitter individual for somebody that spouts on about Jesus,” Bisping said at the UFC 199 open workouts. “He just needs to take a step back and go read the Bible some more. Take heed to his own words. Don’t be bitter. He hurt himself, simple as that. It had nothing to do with me. I didn’t hurt his neck. Did I hurt his neck? What the f— has that got to do with me, pal?”
He continued, “Weidman, sort your s— out and come back. When I beat Luke Rockhold, Weidman can be my first defense. And I’ll shut that a—— up once and for all.”
Third Time is the Charm?
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The other title fight features the grudge match to end all grudge matches, as Urijah Faber tries to take the UFC bantamweight title from Dominick Cruz. These two warriors first fought in 2007, back in the WEC before it was absorbed into the UFC. Faber needed just over 90 seconds to choke Cruz out. In 2011, they rematched at UFC 132 and Cruz won via unanimous decision. Even back then, Cruz said he would be open to a rubber match, and here we are. The loss to Faber is the only one on his record, and now he is the UFC bantamweight champion.
Faber has had many chances to win a UFC title, but has gone 0-6 in those fights. Perhaps he should go by the nickname “The Buffalo Bills Kid,” instead of “The California Kid.” (See what I did there?) This is seemingly his last shot for a UFC belt, although stranger things have happened.
Unfortunately for Faber, Cruz is better than him in almost every facet of the game. Cruz lands more significant strikes, absorbs less, scores more takedowns and defends against them better than Faber. Cruz is younger and also has slight height and reach advantages. Anything can happen in an MMA fight, and many times it does. But short of that, it looks as if Dominick Cruz will remain the UFC bantamweight champion, and he’ll close the door on one of the best feuds in MMA.
Biggest Free Agent Bust in UFC History
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Hector Lombard was one of the most-heralded — and expensive — free agent signings by the UFC. Lombard absolutely wrecked his opponents during his Bellator days, but fans have only seen glimpses of that speed in power during his UFC career. Lombard has gone just 3-3 in the UFC, and had one fight changed to a no-contest after testing positive for PEDs. He’s also switched weight classes — twice.
Back now at middleweight, Lombard believes he will no longer feel weakened as he did at welterweight. He also told Submission Radio that he thinks Henderson, one of the all-time greats and a legend in MMA, is a ‘F—wit.’ “Dan Henderson is just fake. Fake guy, comes across like a nice guy when he’s not. This f—wit is kind of like ‘oh, I’m more than you.’ So he doesn’t care for me and I don’t care for him either.”
This is a match between two former Olympians. Lombard represented Cuba in Judo, and Henderson represented the USA in wrestling. At this stage in their careers, both fighters rely mostly on their enormous power, and one of them will be going to sleep Saturday night in the Octagon.
Jessica Penne Deserves Maximum Respect
This is a picture of Jessica Penne after her title fight against Joanna Jedrzejczyk. She was hit 162 times in that fight, with many of those strikes considered significant power punches. The fight was stopped in the third round, and it was the first time Penne has ever been knocked out in her career.
She is an amazing warrior, and much more likely to be the hammer than the nail when she fights Jessica Andrade Saturday night. Currently ranked as the No. 6 strawweight, a win against Andrade will get her a top-5 opponent in her next fight, and I could see her getting another shot at the title in 2017. You’ll want to watch her do work Saturday night.
Five for Fighting
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Five more fighters you’ll want to watch Saturday night at UFC 199.
- Cole Miller. Miller is phenomenal on the ground. He’ll fight Alex Caceres, who is primarily a striker. Miller should be able to tie Caceres up like a pretzel before he makes him tap out.
- Max Holloway. Holloway is a talented fighter with superior speed, boxing and footwork. He is incredibly hard to hit. He has won eight straight fights, with his last loss coming to the current champion, one Conor McGregor. Holloway is better than he was during that 2013 bout, when he was just 21 years old. He badly wants the rematch and title, but he’ll have to get through Ric Lamas first.
- Ric Lamas. Ricardo “The Bully” Lamas is one of the most-underrated fighters in the UFC, a guy who gets virtually zero love from the promotion, and many can’t understand that at all. He prefers to let his skills do his talking in the cage, but he is a good-hearted guy, great ambassador for the sport, and absolutely hilarious when he wants to be. The skit he starred in as Conor McGregor is an all-timer. Since losing to Jose Aldo in his title fight, Lamas has won three of his last four fights. A win over Holloway would make everyone stand up and pay attention. Like Holloway, Lamas would love the chance to dethrone McGregor.
- Dan Henderson. Since Chuck Liddell retired, Henderson’s right hand, aka “The H-Bomb,” has been the most-famous power punch in the UFC. But at age 45, each fight could be Henderson’s last. He has gone just 3-6 in his latest UFC stint, but no one knocks fighters out in more exciting fashion than Hendo.
- Dustin Poirier. “The Diamond” has won all three of his fights since his return to the lightweight division. The first two were knockouts, and he was awarded “Performance of the Night” bonuses for both fights. His last fight saw him shutting down prized-prospect Joe Duffy, doubling up on the number of strikes landed by his opponent. He easily won all three rounds in that fight, even getting a 10-8 round from one judge.
Nickname Battle of the Night
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This was a tough call, but I’m going with Jonathan “Johnny Bravo” Wilson vs. Luis Henrique “Frankenstein” Da Silva. Besides the killer nicknames, both fighters are undefeated, so someone’s ‘O’ has to go! 16 of their 17 combined wins have come by way of knockout. Don’t blink during this one.
