Luke Rockhold Teases Fight With Paulo Costa: ‘We Could Have A Dance’
Luke Rockhold is set to make his eagerly anticipated return to fighting in 2022.
The former UFC middleweight champion hasn’t fought since being knocked out by Jan Blachowicz in July 2019. Rockhold flirted with the idea of retirement before re-committing himself to MMA.
The 37-year-old has found it tough to get matched up for his comeback fight. Rockhold previously revealed that Jack Hermansson, Khamzat Chimaev, Kevin Holland, and Uriah Hall all refused to fight him for one reason or another.
Rockhold was booked to face Sean Strickland at UFC 268 but was forced out of the bout due to a herniated disc in his back. Strickland has since gone on to beat Hermansson, establishing himself as a top contender 185lbs.
Now injury-free, Rockhold will once again begin his search for a willing opponent. During a recent interview with Submission Radio the Santa Cruz, California native appeared to already have someone in mind.
“It’s an option, it’s a very viable option. So, as long as terms are met, you know, we could have a dance,” Rockhold said about potentially fighting Costa.
“I’m not here to fight f*cken cheaters. So, if the weight is met, unless too much wine is consumed, you never know. Weight has to be met, weight has to be met. There’s too many fucken weak-ass people trying to get advantages upon the game. And I’ve lost, I’ve killed myself to make weight and do things right. And can’t say the same for the rest of them.”
“I ain’t going to do that again. I ain’t going to do that again and fight a guy that misses weight purposely to gain an advantage. F*ck no,” Rockhold added.
“There has to be fair play. We’re fighting. We’re not like playing anything else, we’re fighting. So, fair play is necessary. And at this stage of my career, I ain’t willing to fucken risk anything but fair play. Because I do it right, I always have done it right, and it’s gotta be done right.”
Luke Rockhold Explains Why He Wants To Fight Paulo Costa
“It’s a guy that I don’t like, and I think disrespects the sport and motivates me to f*cken correct it,” Rockhold said. “It’s a guy that’s obviously top-ranked somehow, some way, when he can’t even make weight. So, typically if anything he should be ranked in the 205-pound division, right? I just don’t care for the guy. I tell you that, I don’t care for the guy. And I think it’s a fun fight. I think I can go show him the door. I think you have a guy that fucken wants to make excuses on wine and weight, and his liver is obviously affected, so let’s go f*cken, let’s go munch on it.”
“There’s a distance game I can play. There’s a lot to it. I think the guy, he’s like a duck. He can f*cken swim, he can fly, but he can’t do anything great.”
“I don’t hate it, I don’t hate it. Obviously it’s about selling tickets. And if you can go out there and put a statement and a staple on the fight on a big top five fight, it speaks volumes. So, I like it. Going in there and making a statement can put me in a very nice little spot.”
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