Introduction
UFC Fight Night 48: Bisping vs. Le took place on Saturday, August 23, 2014 at the CotaiArena in Macau, China — broadcast exclusively on UFC Fight Pass, attended by 7,022 fans. It was the third UFC event at the CotaiArena, following UFC on Fuel TV: Franklin vs. Le in November 2012 and the TUF China Finale in March 2014. The event was also one of two UFC cards held on August 23 — the other being UFC Fight Night 49 in Tulsa, Oklahoma later that same day.
Michael Bisping TKO'd Cung Le in round four in a dominant performance that earned him a Performance of the Night bonus, then delivered one of the UFC's most memorable post-fight callouts: he singled out Luke Rockhold — who was seated cageside in Macau — and issued a direct challenge. The feud that followed culminated in one of the most shocking upsets in middleweight history. Tyron Woodley's 61-second R1 KO of Dong Hyun Kim was a breakthrough moment in the Chosen One's UFC career. Colby Covington made his UFC debut.
Quick Stats
📅 Date: Saturday, August 23, 2014 (same day as FN49 Tulsa)
📍 Venue: CotaiArena, Macau, China (3rd UFC event at this venue)
👥 Attendance: 7,022
📺 Broadcast: UFC Fight Pass (exclusive)
🏆 Main Event: Michael Bisping vs. Cung Le — Middleweight
✅ Result: Bisping def. Le via TKO (strikes) — R4, 0:57 (PoN $50k; post-fight Rockhold callout)
The Bisping–Rockhold Callout
Bisping had entered the fight under genuine career pressure. He was 2-3 in his last five fights, coming off a lopsided loss to Tim Kennedy. A poor performance against Cung Le, and his own pre-fight comments suggested he would walk away from the sport. Instead, he produced one of his sharpest performances: opening cuts around Le's eyes, landing combinations with velocity and accuracy, and stopping the 42-year-old in round four. With the finish complete, Bisping spotted Luke Rockhold — the freshly debuted UFC middleweight whose reputation was already building rapidly — seated cageside. He called him out directly on the microphone. The exchange sparked a rivalry that culminated at UFC 199 in June 2016, when Bisping KO'd Rockhold in round one to win the UFC middleweight title in one of the sport's all-time upsets.
Woodley's Breakthrough + Covington's Debut
Tyron Woodley had gone 3-2 in his first five UFC appearances and was fighting with something to prove after back-to-back split decision losses to Jake Shields and Rory MacDonald. Against Dong Hyun Kim — a consistent top-ten welterweight — Woodley landed a right hand combination at 1:01 of round one that produced one of the most emphatic stoppages of his early UFC career. The win re-established him as a welterweight title contender. Colby Covington made his UFC debut on the same card, submitting Wang Anying by strikes at 4:50 of round one — the beginning of a UFC career that would eventually produce two world title shots.
Full Results
Main Card (UFC Fight Pass)
Michael Bisping def. Cung Le — TKO (strikes) — R4, 0:57 — Middleweight (PoN $50k; post-fight Rockhold callout)
Tyron Woodley def. Dong Hyun Kim — TKO (punches) — R1, 1:01 — Welterweight (PoN $50k; breakthrough KO; future UFC WW champion)
Zhang Lipeng def. Brendan O'Reilly — Unanimous Decision — Featherweight
Ning Guangyou def. Jianping Yang — Unanimous Decision — Featherweight (TUF China FW season final)
Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass)
Wang Sai def. Danny Mitchell — Unanimous Decision — Welterweight
Alberto Mina def. Shinsho Anzai — TKO — R1, 4:17 — Featherweight (PoN $50k)
Yuta Sasaki def. Roland Delorme — Submission (RNC) — R1, 1:06 — Flyweight (PoN $50k)
Colby Covington def. Wang Anying — TKO (strikes) — R1, 4:50 — Welterweight (UFC debut; future 2× UFC WW title challenger)
Royston Wee def. Yao Zhikui — Split Decision — Featherweight
Milana Dudieva def. Elizabeth Phillips — Split Decision — Women's MMA
Bonuses & Awards
Note: No Fight of the Night was awarded — all four bonuses were Performance of the Night.
🥇 Performance of the Night: Michael Bisping, Tyron Woodley, Alberto Mina, Yuta Sasaki — $50,000 each
Legacy & Impact
Fight Night 48 planted two seeds that grew into major UFC storylines. Bisping's Macau callout of Luke Rockhold — delivered in front of Rockhold himself — began a public feud that produced several heated media interactions before their UFC 199 rematch in June 2016. Rockhold was the heavy favourite; Bisping knocked him out in round one to win the title in the sport's biggest upset of the year. Woodley's Macau KO of Kim was the turning point of his contender arc — he went on to defeat Robbie Lawler for the UFC welterweight title at UFC 201. Covington's debut was quiet in 2014; he became one of the UFC's most combustible and successful welterweights of the following decade.