Luke Rockhold News

Tom Taylor - May 17, 2017

If you’ve been paying attention to the MMA headlines over the last few days you’ve probably seen that former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold and UFC President Dana White have been having a difference of opinions. This conflict began when Rockhold went off on the UFC for awarding the next crack at Michael Bisping’s middleweight throne to former welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre – though this plan has since been nixed.

Tom Taylor - May 16, 2017

When it was announced earlier this year that the next shot at Michael Bisping’s middleweight title would go to former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre – a man riding a multi-year layoff with no experience in the division – there was widespread backlash. While much of this backlash came from the fans, the most visible responses to the news came from Bisping and St-Pierre’s fellow fighters. And of all the fighters to sound off against this strange title fight, it’s possible that none were as vocal as former champ Luke Rockhold. “Our division is hot right now, they’ve got good matchups, but they’re just not putting the champion to work,” Rockhold said on a recent episode of The MMA Hour. “It’s ridiculous. Are they really going to wait until October to make the Georges St-Pierre fight?” 

Chris Taylor - May 14, 2017

Dana White fires back at Luke Rockhold for his recent comments Former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold was not a happy man when the UFC announced that Georges St-Pierre would be receiving a middleweight title fight against Michael Bisping in his return to the octagon.

Russell Ess - May 12, 2017

The UFC middleweight contenders voices were heard as many were unhappy with the initial announcement that former UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre was going to challenge Michael Bisping for his middleweight title. With St-Pierre recently stating that he would not be ready to fight until after October, UFC President Dana White announced that he canceled the matchup between Bisping and St-Pierre and that #1 ranked UFC middleweight contender Yoel Romero would get the opportunity to fight Bisping for the title.

Scott Hernandez - May 9, 2017

Earlier this year, the UFC brass announced that former UFC welterweight kingpin Georges St-Pierre would be making his highly anticipated return to the Octagon to fight UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping in a highly anticipated showdown for the middleweight title sometime 2017. While no date was announced for the bout, UFC President Dana White confirmed that the fight would take place sometime in 2017.

Tom Taylor - May 8, 2017

It has been known for some time that UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping will next defend his title against former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre. With St-Pierre now saying he won’t be able to take this lucrative title fight until October or later, however, the many contenders in the stacked middleweight division are getting quite frustrated – perhaps none more so than former champ Luke Rockhold. Rockhold vented on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour:

Russell Ess - May 3, 2017

It has been nearly a year since former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold last fought in the Octagon. Rockhold was upset by current UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping, losing the UFC middleweight title after getting knocked out by “The Count” in the first round of their UFC 199 championship fight.

Scott Hernandez - April 27, 2017

Back in the Bay doing what we do. Waiting on an opponent for July or maybe June… A post shared by Luke Rockhold (@lukerockhold) on Apr 26, 2017 at 6:21pm PDT

Tom Taylor - April 16, 2017

Last night, on the main card of UFC on Fox 24, Australia-based Kiwi Robert Whittaker stepped onto the canvas with former Strikeforce middleweight king Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza. The bout marked the biggest test of the 26 year old Whittaker’s career. Despite the scale of this test, Whittaker passed it with flying colors. First, he reversed an early Jacare takedown, and escaped back to his feet – something very few middleweights have been able to do against the dangerous BJJ whiz. From there, Whittaker began to pick his foe apart on the feet, dropping him once with a punch, and ultimately polishing him off with a head-kick and a storm of followup ground strikes.

Scott Hernandez - April 11, 2017

Former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold has been absent from the Octagon since his June 2016 loss to Michael Bisping which saw the champion lose his title belt in the very first round. The loss to Bisping not only saw him lose the middleweight title, but also snapped a 5-fight win streak that spanned back to just Rockhold’s second UFC fight, and saw him finish five straight opponents, including Chris Weidman to win the UFC title. Now, with fellow former middleweight champion Anderson Silva without an opponent for his upcoming UFC 212 scrap after Kelvin Gastelum was pulled from the scrap due to a USADA violation for marijuana, Rockhold has informed Padlokt that he plans to step in to fight Anderson Silva.

Tom Taylor - April 10, 2017

The middleweight title picture is currently a bit chaotic, as reigning champ Michael Bisping is poised to defend his title against Georges St-Pierre, a former welterweight champion who has never fought at middleweight before. Unsurprisingly, this news has not gone over well with the many more deserving contenders at middleweight, such as former champ Luke Rockhold. In a recent interview with TSN (via BloodyElbow.com), Rockhold explained that he believes this controversial middleweight title fight has created a need for an interim title fight to keep the contendership conversation moving properly.

Tom Taylor - March 29, 2017

When reigning UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping agreed to defend his title against returning former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, it left several far more deserving middleweight contenders out in the cold – none more so than Yoel Romero. The former Olympic wrestler Romero is currently undefeated in the UFC, having gone 8-0 in his first eight bouts with the promotion. Over the course of this impressive run, he’s defeated game opposition such as Derek Brunson, Tim Kennedy, Lyoto Machida, Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, and most recently, Chris Weidman. At a glance, this would seem like more than enough to earn him a shot at gold. Unfortunately, St-Pierre’s title shot deprives him of this opportunity for the time being.

Tom Taylor - March 26, 2017

Later this year, at a to-be-determined date, UFC middleweight champ Michael Bisping will attempt to defend his title against former welterweight king Georges St-Pierre, who is returning from a long hiatus from competition. While this fight has got some members of the MMA community very excited, it’s generated criticism from others for the way it deprives the top middleweight contenders of the title shots they deserve. During a recent appearance on UFC Tonight, former middleweight champion Luke Rockhold offered his own criticism of this booking, suggesting that it could set a dangerous precedent, as legitimate ranking-driven matchmaking gives way to a focus on so-called “money fights”.

Tom Taylor - March 26, 2017

Shortly after his thunderous, first-round knockout of Andrei Arlovski, rising heavyweight contender Francis Ngannou issued callouts of three of the division’s top fighters: Cain Velasquez, Junior Dos Santos, and Alistair Overeem. Yet when Ben Rothwell was forced out of a scheduled bout with Brazil’s Fabricio Werdum, leaving Werdum without an opponent, the Brazilian became Ngannou’s primary target. Ngannou has some competition in his quest for a fight with Werdum. That competition comes from an unlikely source in former middleweight champion Luke Rockhold, who has beef with Werdum stemming from their days fighting under the Strikeforce banner.

Scott Hernandez - March 23, 2017

The war of words between former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold, and former heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum has picked up steam this week after Rockhold called out Werdum for a heavyweight scrap on UFC Tonight, saying: “Everyone’s steaming over this new fight I brought up. I think me and Werdum got some old beef from Strikeforce. He’s a guy I’ve always wanted to fight. I’ve thought it through and I like the style matchup.

Scott Hernandez - March 23, 2017

Former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum recently found himself called out by former middleweight champion Luke Rockhold this week. Rockhold explained on a recent podcast appearance that he and ‘Vai Calvao’ had unfinished beef from the Strikeforce days, and as a result, he would be willing to move up to heavyweight to settle that beef. He explained the situation on UFC Tonight, saying:

Scott Hernandez - March 10, 2017

This past weekend, undefeated UFC lightweight Khabib Nurmagomedov was set to step into the Octagon with streaking lightweight contender Tony Ferguson for a highly anticipated showdown that would see one man crowned the interim lightweight champion, and earn one man the chance to fight Conor McGregor when he chooses to return following the birth of his child in May. Unfortunately, since Nurmagomedov’s withdrawal, reports have surfaced that Nurmagomedov’s father is currently considering pushing his son to retire. While there has been no word from Nurmagomedov himself regarding the situation, Nurmagomedov’s AKA teammate Luke Rockhold spoke to Submission Radio to give a very different take on the situation, also shedding light on why Nurmagomedov was forced out of the fight, saying:

Russell Ess - March 10, 2017

Former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold is taking his time getting back into the Octagon, especially with the way the middleweight division is currently playing out.