Luke Rockhold Would Love To ‘Beat Belfort’s A–,’ Doesn’t Think He Deserves Title
Thoroughly destroying former light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida in the main event of last Saturday night’s (April 18, 2015) UFC on FOX 15 from Newark, New Jersey, skyrocketing middleweight Luke Rockhold made an almost ironclad case for the next title shot against the winner of UFC 187’s Chris Weidman vs. Vitor Belfort match-up.
The only man standing in Rockhold’s way is his top-ranked contender Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, whom Rockhold beat for the Strikeforce belt back in September 2011. Jacare has since gone on an eight-fight streak, including a destructively quick submission over Chris Camozzi in the co-main event of UFC on FOX 15. Although Souza still believes that the title shot should be his, it’s looking more and more like Rockhold is the one in the driver’s seat.
The American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) standout wants to make history by facing Weidman in an “All-American” East vs. West battle at Madison Square Garden when mixed martial arts (MMA) presumably gets legalized in New York later this year, but if Belfort is forced to back out of his thrice-scheduled but oft-delayed bout with Weidman for any reason, he’d obviously be the logical choice to replace “The Phenom” on short notice.
Appearing on today’s (Mon., April 20, 2015) MMA Junkie Radio, Rockhold was asked to clarify his stance on the speculative subject:
Not surprisingly, he said he would be forced to step in if the opportunity were to arise:
“Yeah. I mean that’s the fairy tale, that’s the dream. And you know, a lot of these things happen the way you dream ‘em up. Given that everyone’s saying that we’re going into New York in November, December; we’re going to get cleared, and you know, that time frame is pretty damn good. I’ve come a long way and I’d like to give it nothing but my best if I’m gonna be in for a title fight, but at the same time, if an opportunity like that arises, it’s going to be tough to pass up.”
Even though he would have to take that chance and fight with little time to prepare, Rockhold said that at a certain point close to the fight it would be foolish for him to get involved:
“I’m definitely going to stay in shape I guess. I’ll give it a couple weeks; if it gets too close to the fight, I can’t push myself that far really. If one of ‘em’s dropping out of the fight two weeks prior to the fight, I’m not going to do that. That’s just stupid.”
Having a highly documented history of animosity with Belfort, the rising contender was also questioned about whom he preferred to face for his title shot. Although he’d love to dethrone his bitter rival, he doesn’t think “The Phenom” deserves the strap and is therefore rooting for Weidman:
“It’s about the strap, I think it’s a lot of things. I think Chris is the better fighter, I want to fight the best fighter in the world, and I think Chris is going to go out there and beat him. Sure, it would be sweet, I would love to fight Vitor for the title and take the title from him if he were to get it, but I don’t wish him to do that. I don’t like Vitor, I don’t respect him, I don’t think he deserves it, so I think Chris is going to win, I think he’s the better fighter, I actually like him so I hope he wins, and whatever, but if Vitor wins, sure, I’d love to beat his ass.”
Photo Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
