UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold is at the pinnacle of the fight game heading into his UFC 199 rematch with late replacement Michael Bisping on June 4 from The Forum in Inglewood, California, but he’s looking to make a much, much bigger impact.
Rockhold was originally supposed to face former champion Chris Weidman, whom he ripped the belt from with a brutal fourth-round stoppage at last year’s UFC 194, in an immediate rematch, but a serious neck injury forced the oft-injured Weidman to the sidelines and opened a path for Bisping to finally get a long-awaited title shot that had eluded him in his 10-year UFC career.
Weidman may have seemed motivated to avenge a previous loss that was the first of his career, but when the news came that he was out, Rockhold told Dave Meltzer of MMA Fighting that he wasn’t surprised, as there were reasons available why he would. The champ did note that he knew Weidman’s injury was a serious one, however:
“I wasn’t surprised Weidman would fall out,” said Rockhold. “He’s always been a brittle character. Yeah, and with New York on the table, I thought he had a lot of things to pull him away from this fight. What he had it looks like he couldn’t push through from what it sounds like” Rockhold said. “It’s an unfortunate situation. I wish him the best to heal up. I don’t want anyone to get injured on that level.”
The timing may set up nicely for Weidman to return at the anticipated UFC 20 from his home state of New York this November, but he has to heal up fully first, and in the meantime, the title picture will get sorted out in California next weekend.
When Weidman’s injury became known, it was obvious that only a couple of elite middleweights were actually contenders. It became clear to Rockhold that Bisping was the choice when the other man, Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza needed minor knee surgery after his dominant win over Vitor Belfort at UFC 198, and Rockhold respects the British vet for stepping up:
“If you look at the division there were two obvious names (of replacements), Jacare (Souza) and Bisping,” Rockhold said. “Everyone else is a joke. At this point I haven’t seen anyone tear themselves from the pack. I think it was pretty obvious (who he was facing) when Jacare committed to having surgery. It was a pretty obvious choice, and Bisping wanted it. I respect Bisping for stepping up. He’s a courageous motherf******.”
Discussing their fight, which is a rematch of their first match-up at UFC Fight Night 55 in November 2014, Rockhold expressed his understandable excitement at defending the belt at The Forum in his home state:
“It excites me,” he said. “Being in California excites me. Inglewood, the first fight at The Forum. It’s going to be a fun event. I checked it out. There’s a lot of history in that building, NBA history, musical history, it’s a legendary concert hall. I’m looking to leave my mark at The Forum–on Bisping’s face.”
Never one to miss a stinging barb at his opponent, Rockhold then shifted his focus to the reason he’s evolved to such a high level as a fighter due to his pairing of his mental preparation with his already elite athleticism. The middleweight king then made the bold proclamation that he had mastered the mental and technical aspects of fighting so much that no one could match him in those areas, not even pound-for-pound king and all-time great former light heavyweight champion Jon Jones.
Read on to the next page to find out why Rockhold believes he’s become the best overall fighter MMA.
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