Daniel Cormier advises Luke Rockhold to stay retired following “absolutely perfect” end to his MMA career

By Susan Cox - September 30, 2022

Daniel Cormier is advising Luke Rockhold to stay retired following an ‘absolutely perfect’ end to his MMA career.

Marcus Almeida, Cain Velasquez, Daniel Cormier, Luke Rockhold

It was just 6 weeks ago that Rockhold (16-6 MMA) announced his retirement inside the Octagon after fighting Paulo Costa (14-2 MMA) at UFC 278 on August 20th. The former UFC middleweight champion lost to Costa via unanimous decision. It was the Californian’s 3rd loss in a row.

Recently, Rockhold, 37, spoke with ‘Submission Radio‘ and hinted at a comeback saying:

“If I get inspired, if someone inspires me to get back in it…you never know. (Maybe) That Brazilian dude winning the title. Alex Pereira.”

“I mean, there’s tons of opportunity. I’m not looking to get out of shape in any way, shape, or form. I really still enjoy the training aspect. I just don’t want to do the part that really hurts me. I’ll do some boxing sparring, but like, you get into full MMA sparring and everything starts to break down when you’re fighting the bad dudes. I’m just gonna work on getting better.”

Javier Mendez, Cain Velasquez, Luke Rockhold, Daniel Cormier, Bob Cook

That interview didn’t go unnoticed by his longtime American Kickboxing Academy teammate and UFC commentator Daniel Cormier.

In a recent YouTube video on ‘DC’s’ channel, Daniel Cormier had some advice for Luke Rockhold, saying (h/t MMA Fighting):

“Luke, don’t come back. It’s only been a few weeks and it was absolutely perfect. It couldn’t be better. Because Luke Rockhold has been the guy that has not been loved, but in that performance, he gained the praise of the masses. Not only did he gain the praise of the masses though, he gained the praise of his opponent in the competition. Paulo Costa came up to me a week later and told me how special it was to share the Octagon with Luke.”

Concluding Cormier said:

“Luke, don’t come back. It’s fine. Go do jiu-jitsu if you want to. Go to ADCC.”

Would you like to see Rockhold come back to the UFC or do you agree with Cormier that he should do something else?

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