UFC 194 Recap: Luke Rockhold Beats Down Chris Weidman To Become New Middleweight Champion
While it took Conor McGregor 13 seconds to finish former champion José Aldo at the main event of UFC 194, 185-pound title contender Luke Rockhold laid down a brutal beating on Chris Weidman to claim the UFC middleweight title.
Prior to the fight, most mixed martial arts fans foresaw a tough and gritty champion that is Weidman go up against a more loose and versatile stand-up fighter in Rockhold.
It was the same formula that the now former champion has been using against Brazilian legends and former champions such as Lyoto Machida, Vitor Belfort, and most notably, Anderson "The Spider" Silva. But it did not work fluidly against Rockhold, a man who proclaims to be a part of the "new era" of fighters.
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While he did briefly give up a position during the first round, in which Weidman capitalized on, he later on showed his own grappling prowess by threatening a guillotine choke. The second round showed more of a Rockhold fight, as the fighter used his patented left kicks to the body to ward off and slow Weidman down.
The same action carried on during the start of the third round, and this time around, Weidman was dictating the action. The turning point of the fight came in the middleweight of the third round, when Weidman suddenly threw a slow and telegraphed spinning kick.
After badly missing his mark, Rockhold took advantage of the situation by getting hold of Weidman's back and taking the fight to the ground. As soon as the fight hit the canvas, Rockhold secured a full mount and began landing vicious ground and pound shots from up top.
One of the shots opened up a deep cut on Weidman, who was in the brink of being stopped in the dying minutes of the third. The same scenario happened in the fourth. Rockhold easily took down Weidman, who was now badly battered.
The former Strikeforce champion once again got hold of full mount and rained down punches. This time, Herb Dean stepped in to stop the fight at the 3:12 mark.
Now the new middleweight champion, Rockhold improves to a record of 15-2, with 13 wins by stoppage.
Weidman, on the other hand, experienced the first loss of his career and now drops down to a 13-1 record, with nine victories by stoppage.
