Luke Rockhold suggests fighting Paulo Borrachinha and teases: 'if I make weight and drink less wine'

L. Rockhold wants to face P. Borrachinha (Photo: Montagem/SUPER FIGHTS)

Not fighting since he was knocked out by Jan Blachowicz, in July 2019, Luke Rockhold has a new target for his return to the Octagon: Paulo borrachinha. Free from the injury that took him out of the duel against Sean Strickland, the former middleweight champion (up to 83,9 kg) spoke, in a recent interview with the “Submission Radio”, about his interest in facing the Brazilian.

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“It’s a very viable option. So, as soon as the terms meet, we can have a dance”, assured Rockhold.

When talking about Borrachinha, Rockhold recalled the Brazilian's recent controversies regarding the weight cut for the fight with Marvin vettori and wine consumption before the title fight against Israel adesanya. The North American assured that he would only face Borrachinha if the rules were followed.

“I’m not here to take on s*** cheaters. So, if the weight is lost, unless a lot of wine is consumed, we never know. The weight has to be lost. There are a lot of weak people wanting to have advantages in the game. I lost, I killed myself to make weight and do things the right way. I can't say the same about the rest. I won't go through that again. I'm not going to fight a guy who doesn't make weight on purpose to gain an advantage. We have to play fair. We are fighting, we are not playing anything else, so fair play is necessary. At the current stage of my career I am not willing to risk anything. I do the right things, I have always done the right things and that is how they have to be done”, said the former champion.

Finally, the former middleweight champion stated that he doesn't like Borrachinha, but believes the duel could be fun for the fans.

“He's a guy I don't like, who I think disrespects the sport and motivates me to correct it. He's a guy who is somehow up there in the rankings, even without being able to make weight. He should be ranked at light heavyweight, right? I don't care about this guy. I think it's a fun fight. I think I can show him the way to the door. A guy who wants to make excuses about wine and weight, with his kidney obviously affected, so come on you f***, let's enjoy this”, concluded Rockhold.