Luke Rockhold’s single-minded focus makes him UFC 199’s main man

Now that the belt is his, Luke Rockhold wants his first Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight title defense Saturday at the Forum to mark the launching of a new era.

The 31-year-old San Jose fighter will defend his belt against 37-year-old veteran Michael Bisping of England, who replaced the injured former champion Chris Weidman. Rockhold defeated Weidman in a punishing fourth-round technical knockout in December.

Bisping (29-7), coming off a defining home-country victory over former long-reigning middleweight champion Anderson Silva in February, will certainly look to employ savvy, cagey methods he’s learned over the years as a sturdy stand-up fighter. Rockhold maintains that extra experience won’t matter.

“I know Bisping. I know all these guys, and I know what I’m capable of. There’s not a man that’s going to be able to compete with me, nobody I can foresee,” Rockhold said. “I’m going to go out there and put on a more devastating performance every time I’m out there. I put in too much work; I understand too much. Technique versus technique, power to power — there’s not a man on this planet who can match me.”

Former Strikeforce champion Rockhold (15-2) has won five consecutive fights dating to his loss in May 2013 to veteran Vitor Belfort.

That streak includes a convincing November 2014 victory over Bisping, in which the Brit was dropped by a head kick and submitted by a guillotine choke in the second round.

Bisping immediately sought to poke at Rockhold’s psyche when he landed the rematch, questioning the champion’s smarts in insulting form.

“I’m a competitor in all realms of life, and I’m not going to let him lip off too much without giving it back,” Rockhold said. “I’m going to talk more with my hands and a couple of my feet than anything else. It’s not going to affect my performance. As emotional and [upset] and as much as he annoys me, I’m going to recompose myself in the fight and fight how I do. I’m too wise. I’ve grown too much. I know who I am. I know what I’m capable of, and I know what he’s capable of.

“I respect his heart, his technique, his will, but he will not compete with me in any way, shape or form. It’s going to be the most one-sided fight of his career, more one-sided than the last one.”

Rockhold said he’s out to show Bisping and others in the division that he’s elevating his game.

While the single Rockhold took some heat for criticizing Weidman’s distractions as a family man, he said the benefits of a single-minded focus have him where he is: wearing the belt.

“I’ve sacrificed everything in my life. I shut off the world,” Rockhold said. “I don’t have any distractions. I give myself to the sport. … I won’t be out-worked. I will not cut a corner. I commit everything to be the best possible man stepping into the cage. I’ve been around the sport. I’ve seen it. I respect family men, but I’ve put off these things in my life so I can be the best. This is my passion and my focus.

“There’ll be times for the other things in my life. But you only live once, and right now, I live to be the best. I live to leave my mark and be special, and I’m not changing.”

The equity of that sweat has been impressive.

“Technique is not given; it’s earned. I’ve given more of myself to this game than anybody,” Rockhold said. “My athleticism did not come naturally. I worked my [rear end] off and put great time into mastering every technique I can. It’s the reason I’m on top. I’ve built all this, day after day. Nobody is more well-rounded. This fight will be a testament to that.

“I took the life out of Weidman. Now, after I took this guy [Bisping] out in six minutes the first time, I expect to knock him out and open up all the eyes of everyone who’s thinking they’re going to come and get me.”