Retired former middleweight champion Luke Rockhold continues to air out his grievances, this time towards fighter managers.
Former middleweight champion Luke Rockhold continues to air out his grievances. In his post-UFC 278 appearance on the MMA Hour, the newly retired Rockhold did it by giving this f-bomb-filled piece of advice to the next crop of fighters.
“Get a manager that’s not connected to the game, that’s not part of the f–ng system,” Rockhold said. “… There’s a f–ng few managers that work for the UFC. We all know who you are. You’re f–ng the sport up. And the kids that follow them, you’re all f–ng it up.
Rockhold didn’t specify who he was referring to, but he did stress the importance of a manager who knows who to ‘play hard ball’ with a gigantic entity like the UFC.
“How the f–k are they going to work for you when it comes down to it? When you’ve got that title money, when you get the [leverage] right, when you f–ng play hardball? Because hardball is what gets you f–ng paid and gets you f–ng relevance in life,” he said.
“And when you have managers that work for the f–ng UFC, they ain’t going to stand up for you when you f–ng want that worth. When you want that f–ng paycheck, when it really comes down to it and you don’t want just your win and your show [purse] — get your f–ng worth.
“Don’t f–ng play the system because it’s easy, don’t sign that last fight contract because it’s easy. Hold out to the f–ng end and put your f–ng balls on the line.”
The 37-year-old Rockhold (16-6) last fought at UFC 278 in a five-round Fight of the Night battle with former title challenger Paulo Costa. He lost by unanimous decision and subsequently announced his retirement from professional competition.