Luke Rockhold appreciates Israel Adesanya’s style but says the UFC champ is “beatable in so many ways”

Luke Rockhold is confident he would beat Israel Adesanya if he gets the chance to face him.

Rockhold has recently revealed he is looking to return to the middleweight but many of the divisions top-15 have turned him down. However, he is still eager to return and knows if he works his way to a title shot he would be able to beat Adesanya as he thinks the middleweight champ is beatable in so many ways.

“I know what Israel’s capable of. I’ve been studying Israel for a long time,” Rockhold said to ESPN. “I appreciate his style, but I think he’s beatable in so many ways. I don’t think many guys can fight him from the outside like I can.

“If I just stay relaxed and stay on the outside, it’s a game that I can play,” Rockhold continued. “And then if we go into the takedowns, I’ll do it a lot better than Jan did. I’ll tell you that.”

Image via @lukerockhold on Instagram

In Adesanya’s last fight, Blachowicz used his wrestling to take the middleweight champ down to win the fight. However, his size also played a factor as “The Last Stylebender” moved up to light heavyweight. Rockhold, meanwhile, is a good wrestler, but will not be as big as Blachowicz was if he ever gets to fight Adesanya.

In order to even get a title shot, Rockhold will need to return against a top-10 opponent and get a win. After that, he could be put in a number one contender bout as his last fight at middleweight was for an interim title, but he was knocked out by Yoel Romero. Israel Adesanya, meanwhile, is set to defend his belt in the main event of UFC 263 on June 12 against Marvin Vettori.

Do you think Luke Rockhold could beat Israel Adesanya if they fight in the future?