Luke Rockhold has “incorporated” weed and mushrooms into his training camp.
After over three years away from competition, Luke Rockhold is looking to return against Paulo Costa at UFC 278. As the former UFC and Strikeforce champion revealed, he has changed things up and has now “incorporated” almost daily use of marijuana and mushrooms into his training camp.
He explained his reasoning to Submission Radio, while smoking a nice and hefty joint.
“It’s been lately [after training]. I kind of use marijuana to kind of isolate, and I don’t get any need or want to go do other things, you know what I mean?” Rockhold said. “It just kind of isolates me, hyper focuses me on my goal and be on a one-track mind. And then I tried some mushrooms, and it enhances my focus within that space. So, that’s great. It’s like, boom, branches me out. It hyper-focuses me in on weed, for training, and then you take the mushrooms to expand your thought processes within that space.
“[I’m taking mushrooms] four days a week. I don’t know. Every day? I don’t know. I take them when I run. You use them post training. I use them for cardiovascular kind of focused training, I’d say. That’s my thing. You know, you just really analyze, digest what you’re doing, and it gives you perspective, a lot of perspective on your training.”
“This is the first [training camp] I’ve really incorporated [them]. No, I used it a little bit in the past, but never like this.”
Rockhold admitted that he was dealing with issues with alcohol during his years away from competing. Apart from the far healthier alternatives in weed and mushrooms, he’s also trying out new hobbies like art and sculpting to keep himself busy while not in the gym.
“I was definitely getting carried away, with my quote unquote ‘retirement’ or what you want to call it,” Rockhold admitted. “I was getting carried away. I was drinking too much and losing sight of what I really wanted.
“We just liked to have fun, you what I mean? We like to live life to the fullest, and sometimes it gets a little, you know, you got a little overboard,” he said. “I’m an extremist. So, I like to have too much fun. But I know how to pull back. I’ve always had that ability, to pull things back and to focus on what really matters. Experiences in life, you’ve always gotta experience them all. But [I’m] still good, you know? I had to pull it back in, and now I’m using it in a different way. The old way, and better than ever.”
“Just focused on what I want and getting everything done in life. It’s good. It’s cool shit. You gotta be cool as fuck, right? You gotta be Cool Hand Luke.”
Before his hiatus, Rockhold fought just once a year and badly lost in three of his last four bouts against former champions and title contenders like Jan Blachowicz, Michael Bisping and Yoel Romero.