“I like the light heavyweight division – I think it’s for the taking.”
Although Luke Rockhold has settled his contract issues with the UFC and is now booked to fight Chris Weidman in New York, the former middleweight champion is still interested in a move to 205 pounds, telling MMA Junkie reporters Mike Bohn and John Morgan that the light heavyweight division is ‘for the taking’.
Rockhold has flirted with a change in weight class for a while, and the 33-year-old started taking the proposition more seriously after his devastating knockout loss to Yoel Romero at UFC 221. Rockhold was initially anticipated to make his LHW debut against Alexander Gustafsson, but the bout fell through after Rockhold sustained a nasty leg injury in training.
Now, complications arise over American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) teammate Daniel Cormier, who is the simultaneous UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight champion. Cormier, 39, is expected to defend his newly-acquired heavyweight title vs. Brock Lesnar, but the former Olympian is also committed to returning to the light heavyweight division.
“I like the light heavyweight division – I think it’s for the taking,” Rockhold said. “‘DC,’ the complication with him – he’s tossing and turning. I just want the thing to really solidify itself and iron it out. I want a matchup – I want a sexy matchup, and I want to get up there and I want to do some damage, and I want it to mean something. I don’t want to have to fight the best guy in the division in Alexander Gustafsson and have to backtrack if ‘DC’ doesn’t fight and I have to fight someone else lower – what’s the (expletive) point?”
For now, Rockhold has his hands full with Chris Weidman, who he will rematch at the upcoming UFC 230 pay-per-view, which also features a highly anticipated lightweight bout between Nate Diaz and Dustin Poirier.
Luke Rockhold (@LukeRockhold) has informed me he and the UFC have come to terms for the Chris Weidman (@chrisweidman) fight on 11/3 in NYC. Fight was basically agreed to, but Rockhold needed to speak to UFC about his deal. That’s done, and he anticipates signing shortly.
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) August 18, 2018
Rockhold TKO’d Weidman to win the middleweight title in a Fight of the Night classic back at UFC 194, but lost in his very first title defense vs. Michael Bisping at UFC 199. UFC 230 takes place on November 3 at Madison Square Garden in New York.