UFC Fight Night: Rockhold vs. Bisping (UFN 55) took place on November 8, 2014 from the Allphones Arena in Sydney, Australia.
The main event was a 5-round middleweight bout between bitter rivals Luke Rockhold and Michael ‘The Count’ Bisping.
Check out our biggest winners and losers from UFN 55 below.
Winners:
Luke Rockhold: Luke Rockhold entered UFN 55 off of two first round finishes where he looked unstoppable. Rockhold was set to take on a perennial top 10 middleweight in Michael Bisping. Rockhold and Bisping had expressed their dislike for each other for many months leading up to and even before the fight was booked. The American Kickboxing Academy middleweight would make quick work of the Brit as he picked up a dominant second round guillotine victory. The former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion proved once again why he is one of the biggest threats to current UFC Middleweight Champion Chris Weidman. Rockhold’s only loss in the UFC came to Vitor Belfort back in May of 2013. Since then, Rockhold has picked up three victories by way of stoppage where he looked next to perfect. Belfort is getting the next title shot at UFC 184, but Rockhold’s next fight will likely be a number one contender fight.
Al Iaquinta: Al Iaquinta entered UFN 55 coming off of a great performance against Rodrigo Damm at UFN 50 where he picked up the TKO victory at 2:26 of Round 3. Iaquinta would get his most prolific fight to date at UFN 55 as he co-main evented vs. Ross Pearson. The Serra-Longo lightweight was a sizable underdog coming into the fight, but that would not affect his confidence or his performance. The ‘TUF 15’ finalist put on what was without a doubt the best performance of his career. Iaquinta was able to get the TKO victory at 1:39 of Round 2. The New York native certainly proved that he is improving in leaps and bounds every single fight. The future looks bright for the teammate of UFC Middleweight Champion Chris Weidman. This victory may not get him ranked in the top 15 of the very deep lightweight division, but it surely will get him a noteworthy opponent next.
Marcus Brimage: Marcus Brimage came into UFN 55 on a two-fight losing streak and was in desperate need of a win. A loss at UFN 55 would have likely resulted in him being cut from the promotion. In his second fight in the bantamweight division, Brimage was set to take on the 14-2, Jumabieke Tuerxun. ‘The Bama Beast’ made a statement when he made quick work of Tuerxun by knocking him out via head kick at 2:58 of Round 1. The ‘TUF 14’ alum was able to pick up his third UFC victory and the first since he dropped down to bantamweight. In what was likely his best performance to date, Brimage was able to get the night started off with a spectacular head kick knockout that secured his spot in the UFC bantamweight division.
Losers:
Michael Bisping: Michael Bisping entered UFN 55 coming off of what was likely the best performance of his career against Cung Le. Leading up to his main event bout with Luke Rockhold, there was some heated words between the both of them. ‘The Count’ was just outmatched against Rockhold. Bisping suffered his first submission loss as Rockhold picked up a victory via guillotine choke at 57-seconds of Round 2. This is a huge loss in Bisping’s career because he is getting up there in age and his ultimate goal of being the UFC Middleweight Champion is looking less likely. Although the ‘TUF 3’ light heavyweight winner is still one of the best middleweights in the world, he always seems to fall just short of being a title challenger and this was another case of just that.
Clint Hester: Clint Hester entered UFN 55 on a seven-fight win streak and was 4-0 in the UFC. Hester was set to take on Robert Whittaker who was moving up to middleweight from the welterweight division. In what was the ‘Fight of the Night’, Hester was stopped via strikes for the first time in his MMA career as Whittaker picked up the TKO victory at 2:43 of Round 2. It was no performance to be ashamed of, but if ‘Headbussa’ had picked up the victory, he would have been 5-0 in the UFC and likely would have got a ranked opponent in his next fight. The ‘TUF 17’ alum still has a lot of potential, but this loss gives him a minor step back in his career.
Walt Harris: Walt Harris took a fight against Soa Palelei at UFN 55 on short notice. This would be the first fight of his second stint in the UFC. After back-to-back losses in his first two UFC fights, Harris was cut from the promotion. ‘The Big Ticket’ would then go on to get a first round knockout in his next fight against D.J. Linderman at Titan Fighting Championship 28. After an impressive victory and an injury to Palelei’s original opponent Daniel Omielańczuk, Harris got the call back to the octagon. This would not be Harris’ night. The American Top Team heavyweight suffered a second round TKO loss and it brought his UFC record to 0-3. Although it was not the outcome he had hoped for, it may result in at least one more fight in the octagon being that he took it on short notice and was not completely outmatched.
