UFC 194 might have been headlined by a brash title challenger in Conor McGregor, but Luke Rockhold used the platform to secure a title of his own Saturday. The 31-year-old took the UFC middleweight championship away from Chris Weidman via fourth-round technical knockout in the co-main event in Las Vegas.
MMAjunkie reported the official result:
UFC 194 results: Luke Rockhold def. Chris Weidman via TKO (strikes) - Round 4, 3:12 https://t.co/8mYnu1iw7u
— MMAjunkie (@MMAjunkie) December 13, 2015
Weidman initially took the center of the Octagon. The aggressive pressure fighter pushed the pace early on, taking Rockhold's back and later pinning him against the cage.
But the intrigue of the matchup played out early as Rockhold threatened the champion with a guillotine submission that was ultimately unsuccessful. Bleacher Report's Patrick Wyman scored the first round for Weidman:
10-9 Weidman, but this is more likely to be Rockhold's preferred pace. Great fight thus far. #UFC194
— Patrick Wyman (@Patrick_Wyman) December 13, 2015
The beginning of Round 2 played out differently, with Rockhold playing the role of aggressor. He hurt Weidman early in the round and continued to pick away with solid body kicks that swung the momentum further in his favor.
Brett Okamoto of ESPN.com declared it the best round of Rockhold's career:
Rockhold putting together the best round of his career. Beautiful to watch.
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) December 13, 2015
The third round started as an even round but ended on an emphatic note for Rockhold. After little output in the early portion of the round, Rockhold turned a wheel-kick attempt from Weidman into a takedown and mounted the champion.
A case could have been made for a stoppage as Rockhold rained down punishment, but referee Herb Dean saw it fit for the fight to continue into the fourth round.
Ariel Helwani of Fox Sports noted the possible controversy:
Weidman was arguably winning the round and then threw a wheel kick in somewhat sloppy fashion and got taken down. Then damage city.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) December 13, 2015
But there would be no controversy. The new champion came out in the fourth round ready to finish the job. He took Weidman down and put the finishing touches on the most impressive performance of his career.
The victory for Rockhold brought an end to a three-fight title reign for Weidman, who defeated Anderson Silva, Vitor Belfort and Lyoto Machida.
Rockhold can also claim a victory over Machida, but his new status as the champion opens up the division. He holds wins over only two of the Top 10 fighters in the division, according to the UFC's rankings, not including the former champion.
Anyone who is looking to dethrone the new champion will have a difficult time. As he said in the buildup to Saturday's fight, Rockhold is hard to beat because he's among the most versatile fighters in the sport, per Heidi Fang of Fox Sports:
You can't find someone that's going to mimic me. I've always done things different. I've got the best guys in the world I roll with, you can't prepare for what I bring. Flexibility. Length. Power. Wrestling. My movement is not going to be like anything he's faced. I'm going to threaten him everywhere. He's going to be the one scrambling, trying to get back to his feet. I will have the upper-hand everywhere the fight goes.
In addition to the difficulty opponents have in mimicking his style, it's also difficult to match the talent that he trains with. Rockhold routinely trains with former UFC champions Daniel Cormier and Cain Velasquez at AKA.
Plenty of challenges still lie ahead for the new champion, though.
The two highest-ranked middleweights squared off just before Rockhold took the title from Weidman. No. 3 Yoel Romero eked out a split decision against No. 2 Jacare Souza, and the Cuban Olympian could get the next shot at the new champion.
Rockhold has already put some thought into the matchup, per Dave Meltzer of MMA Fighting:
I don't even know if that's his real name. Is he really 38? We need to check some records. But he's sloppy. He's got no jiu jitsu. And he puts himself in bad positions. But he's one of the best wrestlers ever to grace the sport of wrestling, and obviously when it comes to MMA, he's the best wrestler ever. I don't think there is any comparison to Yoel in MMA. But does he use it correctly?
The question could be answered sooner than later. With Rockhold already dethroning an excellent wrestler in Weidman, one has to think Rockhold will have confidence heading into his next fight.
