Sean Sheehan 
Michael Bisping is the UFC middleweight champion of the world.
The Englishman entered his bout with Luke Rockhold at UFC 199 at the Forum in Los Angeles as a big underdog but defied all the odds to leave with the championship.
Bisping looked calm early, if not in his usual physically top shape, and came out fighting hard.
Rockhold was his usual confident self and landed a raft of early body kicks with his patented right hook and straight left following.
Bisping, though, had nothing to lose and played a smart countering game, catching Rockhold more than once inside the opening minutes.
It’s was a huge left hook from Bisping, though, that changed it all. Rockhold attempted to walk down the Brit but was caught hard and wobbled badly by the shot. As he fell to his back Bisping landed another big punch before putting him to sleep with a couple of more against the cage.
UNBELIEVABLE! @bisping KOs @LukeRockhold to become the @UFC middleweight champion of the world! 🇬🇧💪👊 #UFC199 https://t.co/79laN7Aysa
— UFC on TNT Sports (@ufcontnt) June 5, 2016
In reality, it was one of the biggest shocks in the history of MMA and a brilliant culmination to a long career for such a hard-working athlete.
Elsewhere on the card, Dominick Cruz retained his UFC bantamweight title in a 5-round whitewash of long-time rival Urijah Faber while Max Holloway outpointed veteran Ricardo Lamas in the featherweight division.
Here are the full results:
Michael Bisping defeated Luke Rockhold via 1st round KO
Dominick Cruz defeated Urijah Faber via unanimous decision
Max Holloway defeated Ricardo Lamas via unanimous decision
Dan Henderson defeated Hector Lombard via 2nd round KO
Dustin Poirier defeated Bobby Green via 1st round KO
Brian Ortega defeated Clay Guida via 3rd round KO
Beneil Dariush defeated James Vick via 1st round KO
Jessica Andrade defeated Jessica Penne via 2nd round TKO
Alex Caceres defeated Cole Miller via unanimous decision
Sean Strickland defeated Tom Breese via split decision
Luiz Henrique da Silva defeated Jonathan Wilson via 2nd round TKO
Kevin Casey and Elvis Mutapcic was declared a split draw
Polo Reyes defeated Dong Hyun Kim via 3rd round KO
A decade in the making! What a moment for @bisping! 🇬🇧👊 #AndNew #UFC199 #BackBisping https://t.co/ZVV14Ockc6
— UFC on TNT Sports (@ufcontnt) June 5, 2016
.@bisping becomes the first British fighter to win a @ufc belt! What a night! 🇬🇧👊 #AndNew #UFC199 #BackBisping https://t.co/FRod5Y0Oc8
— UFC on TNT Sports (@ufcontnt) June 5, 2016
