Luke Rockhold teases return despite retiring after UFC 278 loss: “2023 could get interesting”

Luke Rockhold may not be retired after all.

Rockhold made his return to the Octagon at UFC 278 against Paulo Costa but suffered a decision loss in a thrilling back-and-forth scrap. After the loss, the former middleweight champ announced his retirement from the sport.

However, Rockhold has talked about fighting again and is now teasing a return.

 

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“Putting the old rig to the test. 2023 could get interesting,” Rockhold wrote on Instagram.

Since Rockhold has announced his retirement, he said now that Alex Pereira is the new champ he would be interested in coming back. Along with that, Luke Rockhold says he wanted to give his body some time off and was never completely closing the door on a retirement.

“Sometimes I struggle back and forth thinking how I want to approach this, but too many people hide behind their words, not how they really feel,” Rockhold said in a social media video. “But, I want to retire. I want to work on life like I did a f*cking fraction of on my break, but I want to get my f*cking body together, get my health together. Health is wealth, ultimately, and my body is f*cking deteriorating and a fight doesn’t help that.

“So, I want to get my body back, but I’ll never close the door [on MMA],” Rockhold continued. “Once I get my health fully back, and I get my body where I want, and I start performing and not hurting myself, [then] maybe, maybe, maybe, I’ll make another run at this thing – one, two, three years down the line. I honestly feel like I’m only getting better. The way I’m treating my body and changing the game.”

Luke Rockhold (19-6) is on a three-fight losing skid and coming off the decision loss to Costa. Prior to that, he was knocked out by Jan Blachowicz at light heavyweight and was knocked out by Yoel Romero for the interim middleweight title at UFC 221.

Do you think we see Luke Rockhold fight in 2023?