No one in the middleweight top ten is willing to face Luke Rockhold, and it’s really starting to cramp his comeback ambitions.
It’s been nine months since former UFC middleweight champ Luke Rockhold announced he was ready to return from the wilderness to fight again, and we’re still waiting for him to step into the Octagon. What gives?
According to Luke himself, it’s because no one in the middleweight top ten is willing to face him. Rockhold went on the Real Quick With Mike Swick podcast recently to discuss his comeback or lack thereof.
“It’s time to smash some heads,” he said. “My body feels good, I’m walking around at 205 pounds. Everything is pretty smooth, I just need to find some sucker to take the fight … [Middleweight], that’s where I’m at. I’m walking at 205 pounds, so for me that’s where I feel good. That’s where I feel light, where I feel comfortable, and that’s where I’ve done my damage, where I won my world titles. And I plan on doing it again.”
The current stumbling block? Not ‘tyrant’ Dana White, who Luke Rockhold has been more than willing to battle in the past to get what he considered fair pay.
“It’s really about fighting someone who’s going to fight,” he said. “I need to find a top 10 guy who’s willing to sack up and ready to fight. There’s already multiple people in the top 10 making excuses for why they won’t fight me. It’s like who the f—k are you to turn down the fight? Where’s your entitlement in what you think you have?
“My last fight [at middleweight] was against Yoel Romero, who missing weight for a world title in Perth two years ago. So I’ve left the rankings but I’m not really left the rankings. I’m still there just as much as I want to be. And everyone knows who I am and what I can do and I think everyone is just making excuses for why they won’t fight me right now.
“We’ve been hunting down the list looking for something credible, something fun, something exciting. I’m not just going to fight anyone, I want something that gets me excited, gets the fans excited, something that makes somewhat of sense. So I want to come back in and do this thing right.”