Ex-UFC champion Luke Rockhold offers to fight Jake Paul next: ‘I’d beat that guy in my sleep’
Former undisputed UFC middleweight champion, Luke Rockhold has offered to become the latest former Octagon gold holder to challenge the undefeated professional boxer, Jake Paul – claiming he would handily defeat the Ohio native in a professional boxing matchup.
Rockhold, a former undisputed middleweight champion, retired from professional mixed martial arts competition back in August of last year, suffering a unanimous decision loss to Brazilian contender, Paulo Costa in his Octagon return.
Luke Rockhold offers to fight Jake Paul next
The former middleweight champion has since, however, teased a potential return to combat sports in the time since his recent retirement, offering to make a move to professional boxing recently to share the squared circle with the undefeated, Paul.
“Stop trying to fight little dudes,” Luke Rockhold said of Jake Paul during an interview with TMZ. “F*cking (fighting) 155 pounders. You’re a middleweight. If you want to fight a middleweight, I got hands.”
“We can do anything we want,” Luke Rockhold explained. “I really don’t care. I’d beat that guy in my sleep.”
Set to make his first professional boxing outing since October of last year, Paul is set to draw his fellow-undefeated fighter, Tommy Fury at an event on February 25. An official location, or venue for the slated bout has yet to be determined at the time of publication.
Headlining a Showtime Pay-Per-View event last October, Paul handed former undisputed middleweight champion, Anderson Silva a unanimous decision loss in Glendale, Arizona – landing a final round knockdown on the Brazilian to boot.
Without a victory since a 2017 submission to strikes win over UFC alum, David Branch, Rockhold minted himself as the undisputed middleweight champion with a ground strikes win over Chris Weidman at UFC 194 in 2015. Rockhold also held the Strikeforce middleweight between 2011 and 2012.
