Luke Rockhold Calls Out Fabricio Werdum
When UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold was knocked out by Michael Bisping last year, and a new champion was crowned as a result of it, no one could have predicted how things would have turned out for the middleweight division. Bisping would go on to defend the title against Dan Henderson, and then the unthinkable happened when former UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre decided to come back, which caused a backlog in the division due to him facing Bisping next. While the date for that fight is unknown, it’s rumored to take place in July. The decision by the UFC to pass over more qualified contenders in exchange for more marquee matchups has infuriated much of the division including Rockhold.
During his recent appearance on UFC Tonight (transcript courtesy of MMA Fighting), Rockhold spoke about the UFC’s decision to not make Bisping fight the top contenders, which is not too happy with.
“It’s chaos. I think they’re running down a slippery slope. I think things could easily get out of hand. You never know what these guys are gonna do. Georges isn’t gonna fight anybody in the top of our division if he wins this fight. Bisping could potentially be in the same boat. So I’m bummed they took this route. It’s kind of taken away from the heart of the sport. It’s about the top guys fighting each other. This isn’t WWE, this is fighting. This is what it’s all about so when they make moves like this it definitely makes you question a lot of things in what you’re doing and how you approach things.”
Despite his frustration, Rockhold has decided to be creative, and he came up with a new plan, which is might surprise people. While a rubber match with Bisping is not on the table at this time, Rockhold stated that there’s another score he’d like to settle, one with former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum.
“Everyone’s steaming over this new fight I brought up. I think me and Werdum got some old beef from Strikeforce. He’s a guy I’ve always wanted to fight. I’ve thought it through, and I like the style matchup. Given what’s going on in the middleweight division right now, screw that, I’m coming to heavyweight. Let’s do this.”
