Luke Rockhold Insists Fight With Chris Weidman Is Still On
Despite the fact that UFC President Dana White had already declared Luke Rockhold the next rightful title contender, the UFC middleweight title picture became a bit muddied yesterday (Tues., June 30, 2015) when champ Chris Weidman declared that he had heard rumors Rockhold would be fighting Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza for the No. 1 contender spot.
Today, that scene appears to have been cleared up (at least from Rockhold’s point of view) as the surging American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) product tweeted that Weidman was simply trolling and the fight was still on:
Weidman is trolling, fight is on!
— Luke Rockhold (@LukeRockhold) July 1, 2015
It was never confirmed, but it was still hard to not believe Weidman’s statement given the currently packed climate of his 185-pound roost. Either Rockhold or Jacare, who has an impressive eight-fight win streak intact, could easily be pegged as the next rightful contender, while Yoel Romero is making quite the case of his own after his brutal UFC Fight Night 70 stoppage of Lyoto ‘The Dragon’ Machida.
But apparently, or at least until we hear different, Rockhold is still the man who will receive the next shot at Weidman, a fight that he promises will be his by way of stoppage. Because of that opinion, Rockhold tweeted that Weidman’s new nickname should be ‘wishful thinking’:
Chris “wishful thinking” Weidman
— Luke Rockhold (@LukeRockhold) July 1, 2015
The promotion has yet to announce just whom will be facing Weidman next after the champ’s dominant first round stoppage of Vitor Belfort at May’s UFC 187. Rockhold believes that it’s still him, but the UFC has been known to say one thing and then do another on a consistent basis.
Who do you think deserves the next middleweight title shot?
Photo Credit: Joshua S. Kelly-USA TODAY Sports
