Following a tough loss to Yoel Romero for the interim UFC middleweight belt, Luke Rockhold is done with fighting at 185lbs.
Rockhold has been a middleweight champion in both Strikeforce and the UFC, but says the weight cut 185lbs is getting increasingly difficult and the Californian sees his future in the UFC light heavyweight division.
“I don’t see me coming back (to middleweight)” Rockhold said on the MMA Hour as per MMA Fighting. “The weight cut is too much on me. As you get older, your bones get bigger. The last couple cuts have been pretty brutal on me. I had trouble regulating my body temperature and all that s**t. It’s not fun. It’s not a fun cut anymore. I’m a different fighter at 205. That weight cut is taking a lot out of me.”
Since capturing the UFC championship in December 2015, Rockhold has suffered two nasty knockout defeats – to the aforementioned Romero and rival Michael Bisping – and has won just once.
Upon hearing rumours of Rockhold wanting to move up in weight, perennial UFC light heavyweight contender Alexander Gustafsson issued him a challenge to “keep him warm in the meantime” while he awaits another crack at the title. Rockhold is only too happy to oblige the giant Swede.
“I like it,” Rockhold said. “I think it was petty coming after me so early (after the knockout loss). I don’t know if he was trying to get under DC’s skin, but I’ll be coming. I’ll be coming to 205. Im gonna handle my business and you better be sure I’m coming for that ass, too.”
With both fighters being talented strikers and proficient in the grappling stakes, this fight would be a welcome fixture to a light heavyweight division in dire need of interesting fights and viable title contenders while the division’s champion Daniel Cormier moonlights as a heavyweight.
