“If he comes back and beats [Paulo] Costa, he’s right back in the mix”.
Michael Bisping believes Luke Rockhold could be fast-tracked to a title shot despite losing his last two fights via knockout and not having fought in the UFC since 2019.
Rockhold is expected to make a comeback in June, possibly against Paulo Costa, and Bisping believes a win over ‘Borrachinha’ could elevate the former UFC middleweight champion back into title contention.
“People forget about the body of work he had,” Bisping of his former UFC rival on a recent episode of Believe You Me (h/t BJPenn.com). “What he’s capable of. The top control, what he can do to people. The damage he can do to people. The kicks, the length, the size, the kind of athlete he is. He’s a world-class surfer, skateboarder, excellent jiu-jitsu. If he comes back and beats [Paulo] Costa, he’s right back in the mix. If he could beat a Costa, you could see a title fight for him pretty, pretty quick.”
Rockhold, who lost the middleweight title to Bisping back in 2016, was originally expected to fight Sean Strickland at UFC 268 but was forced out of the bout due to injury.
His last win came in 2017 when he TKO’d David Branch in the UFC Fight Night 116 main event at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.