Luke Rockhold Reveals He’ll Fight Michael Bisping With A Torn MCL

Fully deserving of a reputation as one of the toughest fighters in mixed martial arts, UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold usually doesn’t let anyone in the media – or his opponent – know about any ailments minor or serious he might have going into a fight.

That was the case in his last bout against Chris Weidman at UFC 194, when he kept an infection under wraps as he attempted to recover with a course of draining antibiotics. Rockhold persevered to stop the former champion in the fourth round, and now he’ll meet Michael Bisping, who replaced an injured Weidman in the main event of Saturday night’s (June 4, 2016) UFC 199 from Inglewood, California.

But in this rematch against “The Count,” whom he finished with an especially visceral mounted guillotine in their first match-up at UFC Fight Night 55, Rockhold isn’t pulling any punches about the present wear-and-tear he’s been dealing with.

Opening up during today’s spirited UFC 199 press conference, Rockhold revealed that he has been dealing with a very serious knee injury in the form of a torn MCL, but he’s going to fight through it, as he doesn’t pull out of fights:

“I’ve been dealing with a knee injury. I’m not gonna lie. This whole camp. But I don’t pull out of fights. I fight through injuries. I don’t care what the circumstances are. I tore my MCL. I haven’t grappled this whole camp. I just started kicking last week.”

That statement of course drew an immediate response from the brash Bisping, who quickly accused Rockhold of already making excuses and looking for an “insurance policy” for when he loses. But that’s far from the case according to Rockhold, who assured “The Count” he’s so far from his level that he doesn’t need the knee to defeat him again:

“I don’t need an insurance policy to beat your ass. I don’t need a knee. I don’t even need to walk. I’ll crawl in that cage and I’ll still whoop your ass. Watch. You’re just an average bloke. I’m a fucking samurai.”

Although Rockhold has been nothing but dominant during his recent five-fight surge to the top, he has been accused of making excuses by both of his last two opponents. It could just be a case of sour grapes due to the fact that Rockhold decimated both Weidman and Bisping before the final bell, however.

Time will tell if his torn MCL will affect the outcome of his rematch with Bisping to give those words any weight.