Tag: Luke Rockhold

Luke Rockhold: UFC Just Chasing To Pay Off A Debt

Like many middleweight contenders, former 185-pound champion Luke Rockhold isn’t pleased with the current state of the division. Instead of fighting one of the few very deserving contenders, champion Michael Bisping will instead take on former longtime 170-pound king Georges “Rush” St. Pierre at a date and venue that has yet to be confirmed despite

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Like many middleweight contenders, former 185-pound champion Luke Rockhold isn’t pleased with the current state of the division.

Instead of fighting one of the few very deserving contenders, champion Michael Bisping will instead take on former longtime 170-pound king Georges “Rush” St. Pierre at a date and venue that has yet to be confirmed despite the fight being announced by UFC President Dana White this past March. St. Pierre hasn’t competed since scoring a highly controversial decision victory over Johny Hendricks at UFC 167 in 2013 and he has never competed at middleweight.

It’s understandable why the top contenders in the middleweight division would be angered by the UFC’s decision and Rockhold recently said that new owners WME-IMG are simply looking to pay off a debt after purchasing the promotion for a record setting $4.2 billion last year:

“I don’t know, man,” he told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour when asked about his situation. “You can’t predict anything these days. So, [the UFC is] just chasing to pay off a debt really, is what they’re doing, trying to put these megafights together that don’t make sense. I don’t know. You never know what they’re going to do these days. Who knows.”

Rockhold was scheduled to rematch former Strikeforce champion Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza late last year, but he was forced to withdraw from that fight after suffering a knee injury.

Now, Yoel Romero is the division’s rightful No. 1-contender, while No. 3-ranked Robert Whittaker and No. 4-ranked Gegard Mousasi have been making waves as well.

As far his fighting future goes, Rockhold sounded adamant when saying that he isn’t interested in fighting unless an interim title is on the line or unless Bisping is matched against a top contender. The 32-year-old also advised Romero, Whittaker and Mousasi to follow his lead:

“If they’re not putting an interim title on the line, or if they’re not making Bisping fight a contender, I’m not fighting anybody,” he said. “And so should the rest of the division, too. What’s the point? Without me, Mousasi, Yoel, and Whittaker? I think everyone should just stand their ground, and say f*ck you. Put a title on the line or else, f*ck, you don’t even have a division.”

“I think everyone is already on strike, aren’t they?” he said. “We’re all waiting on a title. Whittaker’s down. I’ve voiced my opinion, and I think Mousasi should stand his ground too. I mean, without us you have no f*cking division. Make something happen.”

Rock hold did, however, admit that he prefers a fight with Whittaker over a fight with Mousasi if he is indeed going to return sometime soon:

“I asked for the Whittaker fight,” Rockhold said. “I think that’s a more clear cut, straight path to the title. Mousasi’s coming off…you know he looked good, against Weidman, but there was some controversy at the end. Then you got Whittaker who knocked out Jacare. It’s pretty clear-cut. You go put that guy away, and you don’t have to worry about anybody else trying to jump you.”

Do you agree with Rockhold’s comments and who would you like to see him fight next?

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Dana White Reacts To Anderson Silva’s Title Shot Demands

Dana White isn’t caving to Anderson Silva’s recent interim title shot ultimatum The longtime former middleweight champion and MMA legend recently appeared on “The MMA Hour” to demand an interim title shot against top contender Yoel Romero at June 3’s UFC 212 from Rio de Janeiro, and if he didn’t get it, he said he’d retire

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Dana White isn’t caving to Anderson Silva’s recent interim title shot ultimatum

The longtime former middleweight champion and MMA legend recently appeared on “The MMA Hour” to demand an interim title shot against top contender Yoel Romero at June 3’s UFC 212 from Rio de Janeiro, and if he didn’t get it, he said he’d retire after being disrespected by the UFC. In fact, Silva cited Georges St-Pierre’s immediate middleweight title shot versus Michael Bisping as disrespectful to the entire 185-pound class because “GSP” has never fought there.

With that a sentiment many fighters seem to be sharing about the UFC these days, UFC President Dana White told TMZ that Silva is always ‘interesting’ to deal with, the promotion won’t be creating an interim middleweight title, so Silva can just retire:

“Every time, for the last however many years, dealing with Anderson it’s always interesting. You know obviously he wants an interim title, obviously we’re not going to do an interim title. He’s definitely coming out publicly…and you know my philosophy on that, if you ever say the ‘R’ word, you should probably do it anyway.

“If you’re considering retirement, you should probably do it.”

anderson silva fired

White continued taking the hardline stance with the longtime star who may just be the promotion’s biggest bankable, active star with Conor McGregor, Ronda Rousey, and Jon Jones out of action and uncertain to return. Reiterating there would be no interim title, White cited the supposed fact that Bisping was willing to take on Romero for the title – even if he reportedly has a bout with St-Pierre coming up sometime “after October.”

According to White, it’s not the UFC’s fault that Kelvin Gastelum, who was originally scheduled to fight “The Spider” at UFC 212, got pulled off the card after failing a USADA drug test for marijuana metabolites:

“We will not do an interim title. No, it won’t happen,” White said. “Bisping’s ready, willing and able to fight the actual No. 1 contender, who’s Yoel Romero. I mean Anderson Silva’s ranked No. 7 right now. If he was willing to take the Romero fight for June because he was supposed to fight Kelvin Gastelum.

“Anderson’s mad. I didn’t pull Kelvin Gastelum out. Kelvin Gastelum smoked weed and now he got busted and we’ve done everything we could to make another fight for Anderson. So it’s nothing we did.”

While it isn’t the UFC’s fault Gastelum got got using a banned substance – no matter how trivial it may seem – it is their decision to take such a harsh stance on a man who was their unquestioned top draw for several years, an era of dominance that has not been replicated since outside of Demetrious Johnson’s shall we say, different reign over the less-touted flyweight division.

It’s also even magnified much further by the fact that the UFC is struggling for a top-level fight arguably more than they ever during a dismal beginning to 2017, so challenging the biggest who’s currently willing to fight inside your cage may seem counterproductive even if we’ve consistently seen White call fighters’ bluffs and push back with his own response.

That may have worked during he and the Fertitta brothers’ rise to power and subsequent reign, but with fighter treatment one of the hottest topics in a muddied UFC climate, it’s impossible not to wonder if the cost-conscious new UFC ownership should bite the bullet and simply make a big fight with a big star rather than wait for Bisping vs. St-Pierre – a fight that is quickly losing any and all luster as it saps any and all adherence to the rankings in one of MMA’s most talented current landscapes.

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Roy Nelson Absolutely Destroys Anderson Silva’s Title Shot Haters

Not surprisingly, there are a ton of skeptics about longtime former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva’s ultimatum that he needs an interim title fight against Yoel Romero at June 3’s UFC 212 or he’ll retire. True, the legendary “Spider” may only be 1-4(1 NC) in his last six octagon bouts, but while that’s hardly the

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Not surprisingly, there are a ton of skeptics about longtime former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva’s ultimatum that he needs an interim title fight against Yoel Romero at June 3’s UFC 212 or he’ll retire.

True, the legendary “Spider” may only be 1-4(1 NC) in his last six octagon bouts, but while that’s hardly the resume of a title contender, we’ve seen that pure meritocracy is rarely the way UFC title shots are handed out anyhow. The entire scenario could have been avoided altogether if A.) current champ Michael Bisping would simply fight the No. 1-ranked Romero like most fans think he should and B.) Silva’s original opponent Kelvin Gastelum hadn’t been pulled from the card for failing a USADA drug test for marijuana metabolites.

Bisping is fighting former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre (or so we’ve been told) at a yet-to-be-determined date sometime later this year, a bout that “The Spider” feels is simply disrespectful to all middleweights in the stacked UFC 185-pound landscape. While there are certainly more deserving contenders on paper as Silva isn’t exactly on fire, he did get a win, albeit controversially, over Derek Brunson in his last appearance at UFC 208.

All the fans who have cried out that him earning a title shot would be a similar scenario, however, were dealt a sobering dose of facts by UFC heavyweight Roy Nelson, who pointed out a long list of UFC fighters who actually earned a title shot coming off a loss:

Ouch. Framed in that sense, Silva’s call for an interim title shot doesn’t seem all that outlandish, especially when you consider that the onetime-invincible Silva may still be the UFC’s biggest star with Conor McGregor on the sidelines trying to box Floyd Mayweather and Ronda Rousey almost assuredly retired.

And win or lose, he’s a fighting champion who actually called out  man who absolutely no one seems to want to fight right now in “The Soldier of God” just 11 months after he fought light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier on an unprecedented three days’ notice at last year’s UFC 200.

Love him or hate him, Silva is a gamer, and the UFC simply needs him during arguably the worst start to a year they’ve ever seen with both pay-per-view and TV ratings tanking in a major way under new ownership.

There’s no real reason not to make this fight, and as Nelson pointed out, a bunch of well-known UFC combatants have “earned” a title shot for much less.

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Roy Nelson Absolutely Destroys Anderson Silva’s Title Shot Haters

Not surprisingly, there are a ton of skeptics about longtime former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva’s ultimatum that he needs an interim title fight against Yoel Romero at June 3’s UFC 212 or he’ll retire. True, the legendary “Spider” may only be 1-4(1 NC) in his last six octagon bouts, but while that’s hardly the

The post Roy Nelson Absolutely Destroys Anderson Silva’s Title Shot Haters appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Not surprisingly, there are a ton of skeptics about longtime former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva’s ultimatum that he needs an interim title fight against Yoel Romero at June 3’s UFC 212 or he’ll retire.

True, the legendary “Spider” may only be 1-4(1 NC) in his last six octagon bouts, but while that’s hardly the resume of a title contender, we’ve seen that pure meritocracy is rarely the way UFC title shots are handed out anyhow. The entire scenario could have been avoided altogether if A.) current champ Michael Bisping would simply fight the No. 1-ranked Romero like most fans think he should and B.) Silva’s original opponent Kelvin Gastelum hadn’t been pulled from the card for failing a USADA drug test for marijuana metabolites.

Bisping is fighting former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre (or so we’ve been told) at a yet-to-be-determined date sometime later this year, a bout that “The Spider” feels is simply disrespectful to all middleweights in the stacked UFC 185-pound landscape. While there are certainly more deserving contenders on paper as Silva isn’t exactly on fire, he did get a win, albeit controversially, over Derek Brunson in his last appearance at UFC 208.

All the fans who have cried out that him earning a title shot would be a similar scenario, however, were dealt a sobering dose of facts by UFC heavyweight Roy Nelson, who pointed out a long list of UFC fighters who actually earned a title shot coming off a loss:

Ouch. Framed in that sense, Silva’s call for an interim title shot doesn’t seem all that outlandish, especially when you consider that the onetime-invincible Silva may still be the UFC’s biggest star with Conor McGregor on the sidelines trying to box Floyd Mayweather and Ronda Rousey almost assuredly retired.

And win or lose, he’s a fighting champion who actually called out  man who absolutely no one seems to want to fight right now in “The Soldier of God” just 11 months after he fought light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier on an unprecedented three days’ notice at last year’s UFC 200.

Love him or hate him, Silva is a gamer, and the UFC simply needs him during arguably the worst start to a year they’ve ever seen with both pay-per-view and TV ratings tanking in a major way under new ownership.

There’s no real reason not to make this fight, and as Nelson pointed out, a bunch of well-known UFC combatants have “earned” a title shot for much less.

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Michael Bisping Cries Hypocrisy In UFC: Conor McGregor Is ‘Jesus Reincarnated’

Middleweight champion Michael Bisping is fighting Georges St-Pierre – or at least he supposedly is, pending a hard-to-find date for the bout – and he doesn’t care what the many critics of his pending payday think. Most of those critics believe Bisping should forego the bout with a returning St-Pierre, the former welterweight champion who

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Middleweight champion Michael Bisping is fighting Georges St-Pierre – or at least he supposedly is, pending a hard-to-find date for the bout – and he doesn’t care what the many critics of his pending payday think.

Most of those critics believe Bisping should forego the bout with a returning St-Pierre, the former welterweight champion who has never fought at 185 pounds, for a title defense with clear-cut number one contender Yoel Romero, an understandable stance given the fact “The Count” made his first and only title defense against retiring legend and then No. 14-ranked Dan Henderson last October.

But according to the outspoken Brit, he’s going to receive backlash no matter what he does, and he finds a bit of hypocrisy in that fact. The champ spoke up on the latest episode of the “Believe You Me” podcast (via FOX Sports) to offer the opinion that Conor McGregor, who’s currently out of the UFC teasing a potential boxing match with Floyd Mayweather, can do exactly what he’s doing and worse, and he’s lauded as the greatest fighter in MMA for it:

“Whatever I do I get [expletive] off everybody. Conor McGregor can do no wrong. He is Jesus reincarnated. He can walk on water. He can do whatever the [expletive] he wants. He can leave the sport of UFC and go chase a boxing match and that’s still the best thing ever, holding up two divisions whilst he’s at it.

“Me, Jesus Christ, all I try to do is get a big payday and I’m scum of the Earth. I am the devil.”

“The Count” didn’t stop there either, noting that whomever he did choose to defend the middleweight title against, all of the other top contenders in the currently stacked 185-pound fray will be disappointed, leaving him in a no-win situation. Bisping insists he’s fighting St-Pierre and they simply have to deal with it, so he suggested all of the chirpy top-ranked middleweights looking to get a fight with him do just what he did throughout his lengthy grind to a title shot – quit complaining and win fights:

“Here’s the thing, the top seven [fighters] are calling me out, whichever one of them, because they’re all tough. They’re all tough guys, let’s be honest. They’re all very, very good. Whichever one of them I pick, the other six are all going to [expletive] and whine and complain. So you can’t win,” Bisping said. “I’m fighting Georges St-Pierre, [expletive] deal with it. If you want to fight in the mean time, go ahead.

“Luke Rockhold’s still talking [expletive], he hasn’t put a glove on since I knocked him out in the first round. Yoel hasn’t fought in a long time. If you’re so good, continue to fight. When I didn’t have a title shot, when I wasn’t the champion and didn’t get a title shot, I didn’t whine and [expletive] and complain. I just got on with it and I kept fighting. I hoped and I always had that in my heart, I would keep fighting and keep doing what I can do and here I am. I got there in the end. So guys, stop whining, stop [expletive], just get on with it.”

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Luke Rockhold Reacts To Anderson Silva Denying To Fight Him

The UFC is still scrambling to find an opponent for longtime former champion Anderson Silva at May 13’s UFC 212 from Rio after his originally scheduled opponent Kelvin Gastelum was forced out when he failed a USADA drug test for marijuana metabolites. Names like Silva’s former foil Vitor Belfort and former champion Luke Rockhold were

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The UFC is still scrambling to find an opponent for longtime former champion Anderson Silva at May 13’s UFC 212 from Rio after his originally scheduled opponent Kelvin Gastelum was forced out when he failed a USADA drug test for marijuana metabolites.

Names like Silva’s former foil Vitor Belfort and former champion Luke Rockhold were teased as potential replacement opponents, and indeed word arrived that ‘the process of booking Silva vs. Rockhold’ was underway. But ‘The Spider’ soon came out with a reason why he didn’t want to fight either of those top names, noting that he was coming off a win (a highly controversial decision win over Derek Brunson at UFC 208) and they were both coming off a loss.

Rockhold discussed the disappointing news with Submission Radio (via Bloody Elbow), citing Silva’s actually questionable record over the past years and then shifting his focus towards finding a top-ranked opponent to get him back into title contention:

“He made an excuse saying I’m coming off a loss and (he’s) coming off a win, but if you look at his record he’s [1-4 (1 NC)] in his last five fights, six fights and his win is questionable, so I don’t know where he is. He’s justifying that case is kind of… I don’t really understand that justification. So I’m just coming off a title loss and going five and one against the best guys in the world. So yeah, good luck with that one. But we’re moving on to UFC 213 and we’re trying to find a contender, somebody who’s up there, somebody who wants to get dirty and get back to that title and that’s what I want.”

Photo – Ed Mulholland for USA TODAY Sports

While his desired match with Silva has apparently fallen by the wayside, there are still some very intriguing match-ups on the table for him in No. 1 Yoel Romero and rising No. 3 Robert Whittaker. But roadblocks remain in a potential fight against both, as Romero has stated he’ll wait for his much-deserved title shot while Whittaker recently said Rockhold’s target date of July’s UFC 213 might be too fast a turnaround for him after he stormed into title contender status by knocking out Jacare Souza at UFC on FOX 24 on April 22.

There’s always a solid match-up with rising No. 4-ranked Gegard Mousasi, but again, “The Dreamcatcher” still has to take care of a new contract with the UFC before agreeing to any bout. And with Michael Bisping set to take on Georges St-Pierre at a yet-to-be-determined date and locale, the UFC’s middleweight division is as big a mess as any division has ever been in MMA.

Who should Rockhold fight next?

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