Former undisputed UFC and Strikeforce middleweight champion, Luke Rockhold has claimed that fellow division contender, one-time title challenger, Paulo Costa is attempting to move their scheduled UFC 277 clash on July 30. to another event in August – comparing the Brazilian to Caitlyn Jenner.
Rockhold, a native of Santa Cruz, has yet to feature since July 2019 in a light heavyweight divisional bow, suffering a second round knockout loss to former division champion, Jan Blachowicz.
In the time since, the Californian veteran has seen a scheduled UFC 268 bout with Sean Strickland scratched from last November’s Madison Square Garden card due to a back injury. And his since been rebooked to share the Octagon with Costa.
Luke Rockhold has begun comparing Paulo Costa to Caitlyn Jenner ahead of UFC 277
Revealing recently that his UFC 277 battle with Costa in Dallas, Texas may be in jeopardy – Rockhold claimed Costa was attempting to avoid the matchup, and reschedule it for the following month.
“It’s been a headache and process, (and he) just doesn’t make it easy,” Luke Rockhold said of his return during an interview with Submission Radio. “It’s just, I don’t know what he’s doing behind the scenes, getting veneers or getting his f*cking whole face redone, getting a new nose? What’s next? I don’t know. But everything, I think he’s getting all his cosmetic work probably or something, is what I think is going on, cause he just keeps delaying. He might come out looking like Caitlyn Jenner. You never know.”
Rockhold revealed that he had initially targeted a return at UFC 276 on July 2. at the beginning of the month, however, insists Costa forced another rescheduled bout at the end of the month instead.
“He’s trying to delay the fight again to August 20.,” Luke Rockhold said. “This guy is – something’s going on behind the scenes. I don’t know what you’re doing over there, Caitlyn (Paulo Costa).”
“We wanted July 2., and then I think he had his first surgery,” Luke Rockhold claimed. “And then there’s July 30. And then I think he’s on his second or this, and then they want to go to August 20. That’s all I’m hearing right now.”