Despite retiring from the sport only last year, Luke Rockhold has already suggested that he could return to competition in 2023.
After laying down his gloves in the center of the cage following a heartfelt performance against Paulo Costa at UFC 278, many of the community believed that was the last we had seen of Luke Rockhold inside an octagon.
Now it seems this may not be the case. Teasing on his social media about a potential return Rockhold posted saying ‘Putting the old rig to the test. 2023 could get interesting.’
Now whether that return is inside an octagon or not remains to be seen. Given his tenure with the UFC you can expect that he would be welcomed back to competition there should he choose to do so.
However, the former UFC middleweight champion did speculate an entry into boxing following his initial retirement from the UFC.
This was fuelled by several posts to his social media around the time fellow UFC veteran and former champion, Anderson Silva competed against Jake Paul.
Luke Rockhold Suggest A Return To Competition In 2023
Rockhold’s time with the UFC concluded after the former champion suffered a three-fight losing spell. After dropping his middleweight title to Michael Bisping in 2016, Rockhold bounced back by finishing David Branch.
However, things would begin to go downhill for the former champion quickly. The American Kickboxing Academy fighter’s first defeat came at the hands of Cuban powerhouse Yoel Romero who dispatched him at UFC 221.
He would then be tasked with taking on Jan Blachowicz who was beginning his ascent up the light heavyweight division. Rockhold would suffer the same fate as previously being stopped in the second round. The former champion would then take a three-year hiatus from the sport and return in August 2022 to take on Brazilian powerhouse, Paulo Costa.
A matchup that many of the community had written him off in before the bell had even sounded. Rockhold delivered a truly heartful performance which won over many in the fanbase on his final outing, despite him losing via unanimous decision.
Would you like to see Luke Rockhold return to competition in the UFC?