Sherdog.com’s 2014 Event of the Year

4. UFC Fight Night “Rockhold vs. Bisping”
Nov. 7 | Sydney

Typical pre-fight histrionics gave way to stone-cold reality for Michael Bisping, as Luke Rockhold stepped right over the Brit on his way up the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s middleweight ladder.

The former Strikeforce champion tapped Bisping with a second-round guillotine choke in the UFC Fight Night “Rockhold vs. Bisping” headliner at the Allphones Arena in Sydney. Bisping (25-7, 15-7 UFC), who had never before been submitted, conceded defeat 57 seconds into round two.

Rockhold showed no regard for the skills of “The Ultimate Fighter 3” winner, as he walked down Bisping and ravaged his body and arms with a steady diet of heavy kicks during an increasingly one-sided first round. In the second, Rockhold wobbled and dropped the Englishman with a head kick and followed with a quick volley of standing-to-ground punches before jumping on the guillotine. The opportunistic maneuver proved fruitful, as the American Kickboxing Academy ace rolled to a mounted position and completed a one-armed choke. Bisping, who suffered a cut to his left brow during an incidental clash of heads in round one, has not won back-to-back fights in nearly three years.

Beyond Rockhold’s dominant performance Down Under, the event made a little history, as all 11 bouts ended inside the distance.

On the main card, Al Iaquinta, Robert Whittaker and Soa Palelei all scored second-round technical knockouts. However, the most spectacular stoppages were part of the prelims, as Louis Smolka wiped out Richie Vaculik with a side kick to the face and American Top Team’s Marcus Brimage leveled Jumabieke Tuerxun with a wicked head kick.

Meanwhile, Australian prospect Jake Matthews, 20, rendered Vagner Rocha unconscious with a second-round rear-naked choke; the ageless Anthony Perosh swept Carlos Augusto Inocente Filho out of the Octagon with a rear-naked choke; former Maximum Fighting Championship titleholder Sam Alvey knocked out Dylan Andrews with punches; Chris Clements took care of Vik Grujic with first-round knees and punches; and Daniel Kelly tapped Luke Zachrich with a first-round kimura.

Previously, 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 Ultimate Fighting Championship card since “The Ultimate Fighter 5” Finale in June 2007 in which every bout concluded with a finish.

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