The main event of UFC Fight Night 116 in Pittsburgh, PA featured a middleweight fight between former champion Luke Rockhold and former Professional Fighters League two-division champion David Branch.
Play-By-Play
Round 1 – Main event time. Dan Miragliotta will look in on the fight between a former UFC and Strikeforce champ (Rockhold) and a former two-division WSOF champ (Branch). Branch fires off a 1-2, then pushes Rockhold backward. Rockhold throws a high kick, then one to the body to get some space. Then he kicks down low. Branch lands a right hand with Rockhold moving outside, then clinches up. Not much of a feeling-out process at all. They break off after 15 seconds or so and Branch stays after Rockhold. He starts lighting him up along the fence. Rockhold’s taking punches with his hands down. Branch lays off, then drops down and puts Rockhold on the canvas. He doesn’t keep him there long; Rockhold gets back to his feet, but Branch keeps him tied up. Just about two minutes into the fight, Rockhold manages to turn things around and puts Branch’s back on the fence. He lands a couple knees. They break off, but they quickly tie back up on the fence, and again it’s Branch pushing Rockhold to the cage. Rockhold spins him again, then they break and go back to the center with about 90 seconds left. They trade low kicks, and again Branch lands a good right. Rockhold tries a counter left, then kicks to the inside lead left leg. Branch says he got poked in the eye, but Miragliotta isn’t going to give him time and they push on. Out of nowhere, Rockhold tries a pretty jumping kick that glances. Branch tries to answer with another heavy right. But with 20 seconds left, Rockhold drags Branch down and tries to get some ground-and-pound off from his guard. That makes the round close, but MMAjunkie will give a tight one to Branch.
Round 2 – Rockhold keeps with the low kicks. And about 50 seconds in, Branch catches one and holds it long enough that he nearly catches Rockhold with a hard right. Rockhold tries a kick to the midsection, but soon enough Branch clinches up and they’re on the fence again. Rockhold turns him around and they stay tied up on the cage. Rockhold tries to drop down midway through the round, but the takedown isn’t there. Finally, Rockhold gets it 20 seconds later, and with two minutes left he very quickly jumps to full mount. Branch is quick to turn over, and Rockhold stays on him. He starts pounding away. Branch rolls over and Rockhold keeps the high mount. He gets a body triangle cinched up and keeps pounching. He’s got lots of time to finish. Branch covers up and he’s in a ton of trouble. This one’s gonna be over. Miragliotta gets in there to shut it down. It’s a big win for Rockhold in his first fight back since losing the middleweight title.
source: mmajunkie.com
Official Result: Luke Rockhold defeated David Branch by Tapout (Strikes, Round 2, 4:05)
