Kenny Florian: Michael Bisping Has Exposed Luke Rockhold
Former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold returned to action at Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 116 in the main event against David Branch. Rockhold had to overcome a challenge as he was rocked in the first round. He pushed through it and was able to finish Branch by TKO in the second round with strikes from the mount.
This marked Rockhold’s first fight since losing the middleweight title over a year ago when Michael Bisping knocked him out in the first round. The former UFC champion failed to impress the fans with his technique.
Although Rockhold was the favorite in the eyes of oddsmakers going into the fight, Rockhold was hurt by Branch’s strikes several times in the first round.
Former UFC fighter and now analyst Kenny Florian talked about Rockhold’s striking struggles on the most recent edition of his Anik and Florian podcast. He stated that Bisping has “set a blueprint” on how to beat Rockhold.
“If you lost that fight to Michael Bisping, you have to be looking at not the fact that you took him lightly, but the technical errors you made in that fight,” said Florian (transcript courtesy of MMA Fighting). “He’s done this throughout his career and now people are onto it. Michael Bisping has set a blueprint on how to beat Luke Rockhold and he didn’t address the issue.
“[If I’m Rockhold], I’ve got to keep my hands up. If I am hitting that right hook, I’ve got to pivot or do something to make sure I don’t get hit again because he’s moving straight back and he’s a little bit lazy with that lead right hand which is something I used to do so I know all about that. I think he will address it eventually and it will make him a much better fighter.”
As seen in his latest fight, Rockhold didn’t end up needing to address his defensive liabilities because he was able to secure a takedown in the second round and demolished Branch quickly from there. Florian was critical of the former UFC champion’s strikes, but also praised him for his grappling.
“I think that Rockhold is tremendous on the ground; the way he places his body distribution, his knowledge of position is phenomenal. David Branch is a Renzo Gracie black belt . . . David Branch is very good, and Rockhold made it look pretty easy on the mat and I think a lot of was from Branch being mentally broken but also a great deal of it was the skill on the ground from Luke Rockhold.”
“I think a fight against Yoel Romero. If everything plays out the way it should, let’s say Michael Bisping goes on to defend the belt, he gets that next shot against Whittaker, then [Rockhold] fights someone like Romero. I think that’s something that might make sense.”
