Luke Rockhold is not only targeting Chris Weidman.
The former UFC middleweight champion recently expressed his intentions to return to the sport and hinted at a rematch with Weidman.
However, there are other names in the middleweight division that Rockhold has his eye on as well.
“There’s Darren Till, there’s the grappler the Norwegian kid, he looks good, [Jack] Hermansson looks tough,” Rockhold told Submission Radio. “I want somebody who means something and is a name, something meant to be. I left the division the number two-ranked middleweight in the world. So, they can say what they want because I’m unranked at the moment, but I can come back and reassert myself very quickly if I need to.”
“Anderson [Silva] would be fun, but I don’t think he wants anything of this sort. He called me out when he was in the UFC, and I called him out and he ran away, and then, you know, even at this point I don’t think he still wants it. I’ve put that fight in the hands of their team and they’ve seemingly worked their way around it as best they can over the years – many, many years of it.”
Rockhold vs. Whittaker?
Another name that interests Rockhold is another former champion in Whittaker. The pair were originally set to face each other at UFC 221 for the 185-pound strap back in February 2018 until an injury forced Whittaker to withdraw.
“The Reaper” recently returned to the win column last month after outpointing Till, but for Rockhold, the Aussie doesn’t look the same as he did during his run to the middleweight title.
“I don’t think Rob looked like he was back in the day,” he added. “I think Darren Till looked okay. I think he looked like decent. Rob doesn’t look like he’s got the fire he’s once had. I mean, you gotta find the fire if he’s going to come back and compete at that level.
“I’m not opposed to it [fighting Rob]. I’m gonna let him go do his thing and then see how he fares. [Jared] Cannonier’s got some, that dude’s got some fire in his blood. And so, if Robert doesn’t find that f*cken fire, he’s gonna fall short. So, I’m just looking at the division as a whole. And you gotta be ready, you gotta be fired up, you gotta be motivated.”
Rockhold last competed in July last year when he was knocked out by Jan Blachowicz in his light heavyweight debut. In total, he has lost three of his last four outings.
What do you make of Rockhold’s comments?