Luke Rockhold is an equal-opportunity punisher.
And the 31-year-old revels in a gig that lets him thrash people for money.
But he concedes his next opponent -- UK export and former victim Michael Bisping -- brings even more violent bliss, thanks to a tendency to fuel the blood-thirsty engine with his words.
"I enjoy nothing more than shutting his mouth and I feel good about it," Rockhold told CBS Sports. "Some guys you feel bad about it. (Chris) Weidman, he plays up that family role and he doesn't know what he's getting himself into sometimes and you almost feel bad about beating him up.
"But Bisping, he knows what's going on. He always has run his mouth. Shot himself in the foot over and over again. He's that guy. He's annoying. He's an annoying d---. I'm not going to lie, I think he's funny at times and he's clever every once in a while. But he knows what's going to happen. And I'm going to leave a lasting impression."
The chance comes Saturday night in suburban Los Angeles, where his second date with the English chatterbox headlines the UFC 199 pay-per-view show from the Forum.
Meeting No. 1 came 19 months ago in Sydney, Australia, and ended in the first minute of the second round, courtesy of a guillotine choke that prompted Bisping's submission.
The rematch became a last-minute necessity after Rockhold's original foe and the man he beat for the UFC's middleweight title last December -- Weidman -- withdrew two weeks ago with a neck injury.
The opposition, though, matters little in the final few days.
"You've got to understand exactly what you're getting yourself into. I know this better than anybody in the game. I'm all ready to go and do war," Rockhold said. "It's not going to be a grind. It's going to be a precise, early finish. I understand exactly where I'm at. I don't focus on the outcome.
"I know the outcome - what it will be - but I don't focus on it. I don't focus on winning or losing. You take all that out of your head. You just enjoy the moment. I know how good I am and I know what shots to land leading up to this. I let go of all that and I just let it happen."
The strategy has been largely successful to this point for the 6-foot-3, 185-pound Californian, who's appearing in his home state for the first time since 2010.
He's won 15 of 17 overall bouts and all but one since 2007, and only two opponents -- Ronaldo Souza and Tim Kennedy - have lasted the scheduled distance.
The title-winning defeat of the previously unbeaten Weidman on UFC 194 was competitive early before Rockhold took the champion to the ground after a missed wheel kick and proceeded to beat him to a bloody pulp until a merciful stoppage at 3:12 of Round 4.
"I definitely gained some more traction, no doubt, but I told you exactly what I was going to do in that fight," he said. "I told you exactly how it was going end. We both would hit a point of adversity, and I'd flow through it and he'd lose control. He's a control freak and the moment I broke him, I broke him, and that was it. He can't deal with that. I know what I'm doing these days. People can believe me or not, but I'm going to keep proving the point. Sure enough over time, I don't know how many times its going to take, but everyone will eventually understand."
Bisping, now 37, enters the fight as the UFC's No. 4 middleweight contender.
He's 29-7 overall and 3-0 since the 2014 run-in with Rockhold, including a narrow unanimous decision over Anderson Silva in his most recent outing - which earned Fight of the Night honors on the UFC Fight Night card in London on Feb. 27.
Bisping's claimed the short-notice opportunity will yield an upset, an assessment that the champion predictably dismisses as nonsense.
"It has no impact," Rockhold said. "I don't focus on what these guys want to do. I focus on what I want to do. My game is so well-rounded that other guys can't compete with me anywhere.
"So I don't worry about what they're going to do stylistically. It doesn't change much. (Weidman and Bisping) both have an orthodox style. Bisping's going to give a little less pressure and be a little more tactical, where Weidman would come in sloppy and expose himself potentially earlier. It's a fun fight for me. This one is a little more fun. I like the tactical battles. I enjoy that more rather than a sloppy Weidman that'll come forward and expose himself."
