For a while there, it appeared as though we may not see Luke Rockhold fight again. But, more recently the former middleweight champ relayed he’s thinking about returning to the cage, and now he’s reportedly hinted at fighting Chris Weidman.
Rockhold wants to rematch Weidman?
The 35-year-old Rockhold hasn’t fought since last July, when he was KO’d by Jan Blachowicz. That was Rockhold’s second straight, KO loss, as he was also bombed out by Yoel Romero in February, 2018.
After the loss to Blachowicz, Rockhold let it be known that his career could be over. In fact, it sounded like the decorated fighter could very well hang up the gloves.
But, this past April, while speaking with MMA UK., Rockhold said this (quotes via MMA Fighting):
“That’s why I just kept my mouth shut,” Rockhold said. “People just do it to seek attention.
I’m not trying to like make some big statement, make attention about it when I’m not sure about it.
“Here we are now. I’m getting healthier and I might be getting an itch. We’ll see.”
“…“I’ve just got to get healthy. It’s getting healthy and getting everything right and just taking some time off. I’ve been pushing it so hard for 15 years in this sport.
It’s nice to have a break, mentally it’s freeing. Get focused on some other things I can do and there’s a lot to maintain and keep up with.”
And in terms of an opponent, Rockhold floated bouts with Anderson Silva and Chris Weidman.
“A lot of interesting choices,” Rockhold teased. “If Anderson [Silva] is still interested and seemingly he is, maybe, you never know.
[Chris] Weidman’s got a fight coming up. If something, he comes out of that well, you never know. There’s options.”
Well, fast forward to today, and ESPN’s Ariel Helwani is reporting Rockhold’s confirmed he will fight again. In addition, Rockhold reportedly hinted that he’s thinking about facing Weidman for a second time.
Could Rockhold – Weidman 2 happen?
There are certainly reasons to think the UFC will take a look at this. The promotion has tried booking a rematch in the past, and you would think Weidman would be down.
Weidman lost the title to Rockhold in 2015, as the latter stopped him round three. This past weekend, the “All American” worked his way to a decision win over Omari Akhmedov.
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