Its been a rough stretch inside the Octagon for former 185-pound champion Luke Rockhold.
The Californian’s chin has been suspect in his last several fights, as Rockhold dropped three of his last four bouts via knockout. In the one fight he did win during that four-fight stretch, a second-round TKO win over David Branch, Rockhold got stunned in that contest as well.
His latest outing resulted in a second-round knockout loss in his light heavyweight debut to Jan Blachowicz. Now, the likes of UFC President Dana White are suggesting Rockhold consider retirement. The prospect of Rockhold moving up to light heavyweight was especially exciting because it brought about the possibility of a long-awaited rematch with old foe Chris Weidman.
The pair initially met back in 2015, where Rockhold became the first man to defeat Weidman in mixed martial arts (MMA) competition to win the UFC middleweight crown. Now, both men have jumped up to 205 pounds, but with Rockhold now off another knockout loss, his fighting days are in doubt.
Weidman – who has yet to make his light heavyweight debut – recently spoke on “The Ariel Helwani MMA Show” and offered his thoughts on the subject. “The All American” described seeing Rockhold’s latest knockout loss as “bittersweet.” (via MMA Junkie)
“To be honest it was a little bittersweet,” Weidman said. “I never like to see anybody get hurt even though me and Luke have had a lot of issues back and forth for a long time, and that’s the one guy I really wanted to get a fight with him and get that one back. Your first loss always seems to hit home the most, so that’s the one I wanted back.
“It’s kind of bittersweet to see him go out there (because) I didn’t think he looked good. I thought he was slow, tired and to see him get knocked out like that again, he’s been off for so long already.
“I was supposed to fight him back in November and he pulled out and then he was off until just recently so I don’t know what’s up for him next but one part of me is like, ‘I want to be the guy that’s in there with him,’ but now the other part of me is like, ‘I don’t know if he’s going to be around much longer and whether he’s going to retire or not.’”
Weidman will make his light heavyweight debut against talented top-ranked prospect Dominick Reyes. The pair will meet in the main event of UFC on ESPN 6 from the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts on October 18.
What do you make of Weidman’s comments on Rockhold’s KO loss?
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