Luke Rockhold Staying Ready To Fill In At UFC 184 If Needed
UFC 184 is set to go down on February 28, 2015 live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California., and it’s shaping up to be quite a great card and a very important one for the middleweight division.
The main event features middleweight champion Chris Weidman’s long-awaited meeting with Vitor Belfort. Also taking place on the main card is a pivotal matchup between No. 3-ranked Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza and No. 6-ranked Yoel Romero.
One top middleweight who is not competing on the card is No. 5-ranked Luke Rockhold. However, that doesn’t mean he won’t be ready if any unusual circumstances arise to force one of the aforementioned middleweights out of competition:
“There are four middleweights fighting coming up in February, and potentially someone might fall out,” Rockhold told MMAjunkie. “If one of those guys falls out, I’ll be ready to go.”
Rockhold previously took on Michael Bisping earlier this month at UFC Fight Night 55. “Rocky” established himself as a true force in the division with a very impressive second-round submission win over the Brit, earning “Performance of the Night” honors in the process.
After this performance, Rockhold signed a new eight-fight contract and is expecting a big fight in his near future:
“My next fight’s going to be big. I’ll be ready to take on whoever’s next. Potentially the Machida-Dollaway winner, or one of those guys (at UFC 184). I don’t really see anything else in my future right now.”
The AKA product also admitted that he would normally take some time off from training after a bout, but with his teammate Daniel Cormier training for his January title fight against light heavyweight king Jon Jones, he returned to the gym earlier than usual.
This may actually be a good thing for Rockhold as it allows him to stay ready at a moment’s notice:
“It’s a little premature for me to get back in the gym, but it’s good for me too,” Rockhold said. “You never know what’s going to happen. I’ve got to be ready to go. I’m just looking forward to what’s next.”
Clearly lined up for a massive fight, who would you like to see Rockhold take on next?
