It Sounds Like Luke Rockhold is Getting The “Itch” to Fight Again

After Luke Rockhold was taken out by Jan Blachowicz last year, the former middleweight champ didn’t sound overly keen on fighting again.

But, in a more recent interview Rockhold has done, the 35-year-old reported he could be looking to throw hands again.

Rockhold says he “might” be getting the “itch” to fight

Rockhold faced Blachowicz at UFC 239 last July, in what was his light-heavyweight debut in the Octagon. Leading up to the bout there was a lot of talk about Rockhold possibly facing the champ Jon Jones before the year was up.

Blachowicz, however, had other ideas, and he knocked Rockhold out in two.

Following the loss, Rockhold stopped short of saying he was retired. But the decorated fighter also reported that fighting wasn’t a priority, and that he was going to focus on other things (like his modeling career).

Well, more recently Rockhold spoke with MMA UK. While discussing his future, and whether he’ll fight again, he said this (quotes via MMA Fighting). 

“That’s why I just kept my mouth shut,” Rockhold said. “People just do it to seek attention.

I’m not trying to like make some big statement, make attention about it when I’m not sure about it.

“Here we are now. I’m getting healthier and I might be getting an itch. We’ll see.”

“…“I’ve just got to get healthy. It’s getting healthy and getting everything right and just taking some time off. I’ve been pushing it so hard for 15 years in this sport.

It’s nice to have a break, mentally it’s freeing. Get focused on some other things I can do and there’s a lot to maintain and keep up with.”

Rockhold, who is coming off shoulder surgery, also had this to say about a possible opponent.

“A lot of interesting choices,” Rockhold teased. “If Anderson [Silva] is still interested and seemingly he is, maybe, you never know.

[Chris] Weidman’s got a fight coming up. If something, he comes out of that well, you never know. There’s options.”

What could be next?

So, based off these comments, it certainly sounds like there’s a good chance that we’ll see Rockhold fight again. Rockhold was booked to rematch Chris Weidman in 2018 but he was forced out due to injury.

At this stage, however, you would think there might be more interest in seeing Rockhold fighting Silva. The two have never fought, and on paper, it has the potential to be a pretty interesting match-up.