L. Rockhold has remained away from MMA since 2019. Photo: Reproduction/Instagram @lukerockhold
Away from MMA since July last year and with no intention of returning to the sport in the near future, Luke Rockhold He has fond memories of his golden moments in MMA. Former UFC middleweight champion, the American revealed which opponent he would like to have faced among his 10 appearances for the organization.
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“I wish I had the opportunity to fight Anderson (Silva). Especially during that time, I think I would have beaten him. I don't know . I think there are just promotional reasons. At that time, they didn't see the opportunity very well. If I had beaten Vitor (Belfort, in 2013), then Anderson and I would have fought immediately. But, after that defeat, I had to reprimand myself”, revealed Rockhold in an interview on 'Major Waves Podcast'.
Luke and Belfort faced each other in May 2013. At the time, the 'Phenomenon' was coming off a great victory over Michael Bisping and the trajectory towards a new title fight began. That year, Silva still reigned supreme in the middleweight category, having completed seven title defenses, a record at the time.
If Vítor beats, Rockhold could, in fact, qualify for a fight against the champion. However, two months after the setback, the North American was able to watch Silva's fall as he saw the Brazilian being dethroned by Chris Weidman in the fateful UFC 162 fight in July.
Luke managed to recover from his defeat to Belfort and even reached the category's throne in 2015, when he defeated Weidman himself in one of the fights at UFC 194. Rockhold's reign, however, was short-lived. In his first title defense, six months after winning it, the American ended up beating Bisping, in a major upset in the organization's history.
Since then, Luke has not been the same. After being severely knocked out by the Englishman, the former champion performed on three more occasions, winning only once, in September 2017.
His last performance took place in July last year, when Rockhod decided to test himself among the light heavyweights (up to 93kg.) and agreed to exchange forces against Jan Blachowicz.
Visibly at a physical disadvantage, Luke ended up being easy prey for the Pole and ended up suffering a knockout defeat in the second round.
After the new negative result, the 35-year-old athlete decided to take a break from his career and stated that he has no plans to return.
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