After more than a decade, Michael Bisping has finally achieved his life's goal of being the best in the world. Michael Bisping has always been a fighter, but now he's a world champion. The gutsy British veteran took a fight with middleweight champ Luke Rockhold – a man who submitted him with one arm just two years ago - on two weeks' notice, saying it was his destiny to become the best. No one outside of his camp believed he could do it. It took Bisping two left hooks, and less than one round to prove himself right, and the world wrong. The UFC 199 main event began with both men measuring one another with feints. Rockhold connected with his signature right check-hook to the head. |--| Then, Bisping threw a counter right punch to the body, followed by a left hook that clipped Rockhold's chin. The defending champion fell to the ground but quickly popped back up to his feet. Bisping smelled blood and barged forward, connecting with another left hook that floored Rockhold, harder this time. "The Count" rushed to meet Rockhold's body to the ground and connected with more strikes before the referee could step in and stop the fight at 3:36 of the first period. "This was my dream. Nobody was taking this away from me," an elated Bisping said, afterwards, with his wife and kids at his side. "Apart from my children and my wife, this is the greatest day of my life.". Bisping thanked his coach Jason Parillo for his sharp boxing and expressed his passion for this sport of MMA. "First-round knockout. Jason Parillo, thank you!" he shouted. "I started fighting when I came out of my mother. I have always been a fighter and it's gotten me in trouble but there's nothing I do better in life than fighting.". As Bisping celebrated, Rockhold stood nearby, arms folded and crossed, watching the replay on LA Forum arena screens in disbelief. Afterwards, he admitted that he may have underestimated Bisping. "A bit, yeah," he conceded. "He's a tough guy. He's a warrior. Congrats to Michael. He caught me. I just didn't see it happen. I took him for granted.". After back-to-back wins over Anderson Silva and Luke Rockhold in the past four months, no one will likely ever underestimate or take Michael Bisping for granted, again. The loss drops Rockhold's record to 15-3, and Bisping's win improves his career mark to 29-7..