Dana White Thinks Luke Rockhold & Holly Holm Should Consider Retirement
It was a great night of fights last night (Sat. July 6, 2019) in Las Vegas, as the UFC 239 pay-per-view (PPV) went down from the T-Mobile Arena.
Two former champions suffered defeats in which they were finished. First, former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold, making his debut at 205 pounds, was knocked out in vicious fashion by Jan Blachowicz. Also, former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm was finished in the first round of her co-main event bout.
“The Preacher’s Daughter” failed to recapture the 135-pound title against Amanda Nunes, who dropped Holm with her own signature head kick before finishing her off on the ground. Speaking at the UFC 239 post-fight press conference, UFC President Dana White offered his thoughts on both fighters’ losses.
White started off by suggesting Rockhold consider retiring after his string of knockout losses, pointing out Rockhold has a successful modeling career to fall back on now:
“I think Luke Rockhold should talk about hanging it up,” White admitted. “He broke his jaw tonight. So that’s a second broken jaw, he has been knocked out viciously a few times here, shin is all banged up – he had to have skin graph and all kinds of stuff. He has had a good career, he has been a great fighter, I’d like to see him hang it up.
“And he’s got another career that he’s actually doing well at. Everybody’s a f*cking model, right? ‘I’m a model, I’m a model.’ That guy’s actually really modeling for Ralph Lauren. So, good for him.”
White was then asked about Holm, and whether or not it would be harder for her to get another title opportunity given she was again defeated in a bout where UFC gold was on the line. The UFC boss explained why he thinks Holm should also consider hanging her gloves up for good:
“Listen, I don’t want to start going retirement crazy in here,” White said. “You know, she has had an amazing career. She is one of the sweetest human beings you can ever meet. And if you follow her on Instagram, she trains like a beast. She’s almost 40-years-old and she’s in ridiculous shape.
“The things that this woman can do physically with like the rings – gymnastics and all that stuff is phenomenal. She’s an incredible athlete, she’s an incredible human being, um, I don’t know. I think that she needs to take a look at, you know, what’s next for her and what she thinks – and I’m just saying that because I care about her. I care about her as a person. She’s amazing, so, I don’t know. Something we should probably talk about.“
What do you think about White suggesting for Rockhold and Holm to consider retirement?
