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Fitness & Health

26th May 2016

Luke Rockhold looks totally shredded for Michael Bisping title fight at UFC 199

Fighting fit

Ben Kenyon

It’s normally the weigh-ins when we get to see what fight condition UFC fighters are in.

There’s still over a week to go before Michael Bisping gets his shot at middleweight champion Luke Rockhold.

But the 185lb champion already looks in razor-sharp shape before he faces The Count for the second time at UFC 199.

I don't prepare for opponents, I prepare to reach my potential. #ufc199 ? @ewillphoto

A photo posted by Luke Rockhold (@lukerockhold) on

Fight week is normally a frantic weight cut with a water depletion before they step on the scales.

But Rockhold looks lean, ripped and muscular nine days before he defends his belt against the British veteran he beat back in 2014.

There are few middleweights out there that could compete with this physical specimen.

The champion had been due to rematch former middleweight king Chris Weidman after taking his belt via KO in December.

But Weidman picked up an injury in training and had to pull out of the headline event at UFC 199 on June 4.

Bisping, who is coming off the back of three straight wins including an incredible victory over the legendary Anderson Silva in London, stepped in at two weeks’ notice.

The 37-year-old has been keeping himself in shape while filming in Canada on the new xXx film with Vin Diesel.

He told Ariel Helwani on the MMA Hour that taking the fight late means he has not overtrained, as is often the case in one of his work-heavy camps, and feels fit and strong.

Bisping showed incredible heart to keep coming against Silva and it got him the win. He is known for his incredible cardio and conditioning and he has recorded the most significant strikes in UFC history (1,393).

But he knows he’s going to have to produce something special to wrest the belt off the well-rounded California southpaw.

This is how his training camp went…