Luke Rockhold isn’t impressed by Jon Jones’ hesitation to move up a weight class, but at least it gives him ‘dibs.’
UFC 239 on July 6th is a big night for light heavyweights, not only featuring the latest 205 pound title defense from Jon Jones against Thiago Santos, it also features Luke Rockhold’s long awaited debut in the division against Jan Blachowicz.
Rockhold has always been a cocky outspoken dude, and unsurprisingly he’s already cooking up some rivalries in the weight class. You almost can’t put a mic in front of his face without him dissing Anthony Smith, and of course he’s also got his sights set on champion Jones.
”I’m gonna focus on fighting Blachowicz, and I’m gonna put this man away and then I’m gonna look forward,” he told Submission Radio when asked about a Jones fight. “And if there’s opportunities out there, we’ll see what’s up. You know, Jon Jones is right there, and I’m not looking to dance around too long.”
“If there’s an opportunity and things work out and I perform and he performs, you never know, you never know. And if there’s a delay – there’s also a business side of this thing too. So, Anthony Smith could work his way in too. Anybody above me, I’m looking to make a mark on their faces.”
Rockhold didn’t hesitate to agree when asked if “Bones” was scared of moving up to fight his teammate Daniel Cormier at heavyweight.
“Yeah he is, you’re damn straight he is,” Luke said. “Jon ain’t talking about fighting DC at heavyweight, he’s just kind of beating around the bush and he’s trying to bait him back down and antagonize him. So, Jon doesn’t want to fight DC at heavyweight. There’s only a few guys he wants to fight that makes sense.”
With Jones ‘scared’ and Cormier unlikely to drop back to 205, Luke is no longer deferring to his teammate when it comes to stumping for a Jones fight.
“Well, I’m fighting before DC, so I’m gonna take my dibs on that thing if the opportunity presents itself,” he said. “DC, I think it’s foolish for him to come try to challenge Jon back down. I think Jon should have to come challenge him up for the heavyweight title. I mean, that’s where the natural weight is. Jon’s a big guy and he cuts a lot of weight too to get down. So, Jon’s scared to fight DC at heavyweight. I don’t know why DC thinks he’s gotta come back down to fight him there to prove some point. It just… it doesn’t make sense.”
And Cormier has been talking about the Miocic fight being his last, so it may not be an issue. Of course, we imagine the UFC could always sweeten the pot enough to make “DC” stick around. Jones has already made it clear that money is the grease that’d make him move up to heavyweight to fight Cormier. Let’s hope the UFC is willing to pony up … but if not, Jones vs. Rockhold isn’t the worst consolation fight.