Luke Rockhold Still Wants Bout With Michael Bisping, But A Few Fights At 205 Interest Him, As Well
No. 6-ranked UFC middleweight Luke Rockhold picked up his first win in the Octagon last week when he destroyed Costa Philippou with liver kicks in the first round of UFC Fight Night 35’s main event.
The impressive win left Rockhold in a position to call out his next opponent, and while he not surprisingly wants a rematch with Vitor Belfort, he knows that he’ll probably have to win a fight or two before he gets another shot at “The Phenom.”
That left Rockhold looking for a bout with Michael “The Count” Bisping, but unfortunately the UFC had already sought to book him against Tim Kennedy to settle their drawn-out trash talking war. Despite the fight being rumored for the TUF Nations Finale on April 16, Bisping is still recovering from a detached retina and will have to pass a peripheral vision test before he can return to the cage.
Regardless, Rockhold is still campaigning to get a fight with Bisping, telling Ariel Helwani of “UFC Tonight” that he’s a much better option because he can make a fight with Bisping an exciting one:
“Well right now it’s still up in the air. He told me he was going to be in Chicago this week and he’s going to make one last ditch effort to convince the UFC to give him Michael Bisping next. The report’s last week that the UFC is going to try to book Bisping vs. Kennedy on April 16th, but Rockhold really wants that fight.”
“He said, ‘You know, look. If Bisping loses to me, he’ll still be in the Top 10. If he loses to Tim Kennedy, he’s going to fall out of the Top 10. It’s not going to be a fun fight. I can make a fun fight with Michael Bisping. So he’s gonna try to get that fight.”
Rockhold does make a good point when he says that Bisping will experience a significant fall should he lose to Kennedy, because he would. And coming in off of serious eye surgery, he can’t look past Kennedy or his career will suffer greatly.
Rockhold has proven to be able to put on exciting fights every time he steps into the cage, but if he can’t get the bout against Bisping, he’s playing around with a move up to light heavyweight:
“He also told me, interestingly enough, he wants to dabble at 205. He’s been wanting to do this for a long time and he’s interested in a few fights at light heavyweight.”
Indeed Rockhold is a huge and rangy middleweight who undergoes a sizeable weight cut to make the middleweight limit of 185 pounds. He could benefit from fighting at 205 pounds, and there’s not much doubt he could add some excitement to a division that could use it.
Either way, the future looks bright for the focused and intense Rockhold. He has awesome striking power and the wrestling and jiu-jitsu to match. But fighting in what has become one of the most powerful divisions in all of MMA, he has his work cut out for him. Who should he fight next?
Photo: Joshua S. Kelly for USA TODAY Sports
