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Austin Hubbard has plenty of empathy for the situation his opponent found himself in between the second and third round of their recent battle, even if he doesn’t have much sympathy.
The UFC debut for Max Rohskopf couldn’t have gone much worse. The unbeaten prospect and former standout wrestler stepped in to face Austin Hubbard on short notice at UFC on ESPN: Blaydes vs. Volkov. And while he opened the fight with a decent first round showing, things quickly went downhill from there.
Between rounds two and three, a dejected Rohskopf told his corner clearly that he was done. This fight was over and that he didn’t have anything else to give. Despite coach Robert Drysdale’s repeated attempts to push Rohskopf to fight out the final round, Rohskopf stuck by his decision and the bout was waved off.
Austin Hubbard spoke to MMA Fighting about the whole exchange, including Rohskopf’s decision to call it quits, and how he flet about picking up a win via retirement.
“In my mind, that fight was not going to make it to the end of the third,” Hubbard said. “It’s fine that it stopped sooner than I thought it going to. I’ll take it.”
Hubbard didn’t have any unkind words for Rohskopf, who has been on the receiving end of a lot of fan and fighter backlash for his performance in defeat. “I know I was hitting him clean,” Hubbard said. “I can’t blame him. He’s a tough kid. He was taking them well.”
However, as for whether the Elevation Fight Team talent would ever tell his corner he couldn’t go on?
“I would never do that,” he said. “They would have to stop me from going out there than me not wanting to go out there.”
The victory, Hubbard’s second in the UFC, brings ‘Thud’ to 12-4 in his MMA career so far, and comes directly on the heels of a March loss to Mark O. Madsen at UFC 248. And while Dana White also commended Rohskopf’s “balls” and toughness to step up and fight in the UFC, it’s unclear whether the Xtreme Couture athlete will be getting another shot in the Octagon.
“He’s got to get up tomorrow morning and look at himself in the mirror and figure out who he is and what he wants to do,” White said. “There is no shame in getting here and finding out you’re not it. There’s no shame in that at all.”