Sherdog.com’s 2014 Submission of the Year
Rockhold vs. Bisping
3. Luke
Rockhold vs. Michael
Bisping
UFC Fight Night “Rockhold vs. Bisping”
Nov. 7 | Sydney
Throughout 2014, Rockhold did his damnedest to exorcise the demon that plagued him the previous year, when, in his lone Octagon appearance, Vitor Belfort wasted him with a brutal spinning heel kick in front of his Brazilian faithful. Behind three dominant finishes on the year, the former Strikeforce middleweight champion has firmly reintroduced himself as a title contender. The American Kickboxing Academy product plowed through Costas Philippou with a body kick in January and then Tim Boetsch with a reverse triangle kimura in April. Yet he somehow managed to save his best for last.
Rockhold's second-round submission of middleweight mainstay Bisping capped the year’s best advertisement for UFC Fight Pass -- a UFC Fight Night card from Sydney which saw a UFC record-setting 11 finishes, with every single bout on the bill rendering the judges useless. That record would not have been possible without Rockhold’s guillotine choke finish in the main event, as he became the first man to submit “The Count” in his 10-year, 32-fight career.
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As the first round drew to a close, Rockhold was having success with his leg attacks, and he turned up the heat as soon as the second frame started. He stalked Bisping back to the fence, landed a Brazilian kick and then a crushing left head kick that marked the beginning of the end. Rockhold pounced with right-handed punches, while sneaking his left arm underneath Bisping’s throat. He got the choke and then rolled back with controlled aggression, powerfully enough to sweep Bisping with his butterfly hook but steady enough to maintain control. Rockhold landed in full mount, choke cinched, and grapevined both of Bisping’s legs. Perhaps even just as an extra F-you to the trash-talking Bisping, Rockhold finished the choke with just his left arm, posting confidently with his right hand on the mat as the Brit gasped for air and then tapped. Bisping, whose defensive grappling has reinforced his style over the years, had been submitted for the first time and instantly threw his hands over his face in defeat, appreciating the gravity of the moment.
“I probably KO’d Mike before I subbed him, but I’m not trying to hurt people, so I just went for a guillotine to finish it off for sure,” Rockhold said in the cage after the bout. In the past, the UFC Fight Night “Florian vs. Lauzon” and UFC on Fuel 10 “Nogueira vs. Werdum” events had each featured 10 stoppages, but this show was the first to hit 11. Also, it was the first UFC card since “The Ultimate Fighter 5” Finale in June 2007 in which every bout was finished; however, that event only had nine bouts. Although given the nature of the Robert Emerson-Gray Maynard debacle, maybe that card should count for 10 stoppages, too.
Rockhold’s finish seamlessly blended all facets of MMA: an exotic kick, followed by a roundhouse kick upstairs, clever punches to disguise a guillotine, a great sweep to a dominant position and a bold finish of a never-before-submitted fighter. His fusion of striking and grappling and overall technical execution showed what makes Rockhold such a potent offensive fighter and was a righteous way to set a slew of records. Even the prickly Bisping had to tip his hat, despite the pre-fight pleasantries that had been exchanged.
“It was all genuine, but I have respect for him,” Bisping said. “I thought the first round was close; then he hit me with something. Give it up to the mother[expletive].”
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