Luke Rockhold talks about what would inspire him to make a comeback.
Luke Rockhold is already thinking about a possible comeback just one month removed from his UFC 278 retirement fight against Paulo Costa.
Rockhold lost that fight via unanimous decision but won over many fans for his gutsy performance and crazy in-cage antics that saw him smear blood over Costa’s face in the final seconds of the fight.
The former Strikeforce and UFC middleweight champion is still training hard in the gym despite being retired and admits the thought of Alex Pereira defeating Israel Adesanya to win the title is something that might inspire him to make a comeback.
“If I get inspired, if someone inspires me to get back in it…you never know,” Rockhold told Submission Radio in a recent interview. “[Maybe] That Brazilian dude winning the title. Alex Pereira.”
“I mean, there’s tons of opportunity. I’m not looking to get out of shape in any way, shape, or form. I really still enjoy the training aspect. I just don’t want to do the part that really hurts me. I’ll do some boxing sparring, but like, you get into full MMA sparring and everything starts to break down when you’re fighting the bad dudes. I’m just gonna work on getting better.”
The only thing that would put Rockhold off returning to the UFC if ‘that Brazilian dude’ Pereira wins the belt is having to fight former champion Robert Whittaker in a number one contender’s bout.
“The only thing is you gotta fight Robert Whittaker or some sh*t in between,” he said. “To win or lose to Robert Whittaker, that sh*t hurts. It’s gonna hurt, we’re gonna fight.”
Rockhold was formerly considered one of the greatest middleweight fighters in the world, having won world titles in multiple MMA promotions and defeated the likes of Chris Weidman, Michael Bisping, and Lyoto Machida, to name a few. He is 1-3 in his last four fights and hasn’t quite looked the same since he lost his title to Bisping in 2016.