Former UFC 185-pound champion Luke Rockhold is set for his light heavyweight debut.
Rockhold will take on Jan Blachowicz on the main card of next week’s (Sat., July 6, 2019) UFC 239 from Las Vegas. But he’s got his eyes on a much, much bigger prize. The outspoken part-time model recently told Submission Radio (via MMA Junkie) that he’s looking to slide into a fight with 205-pound champion Jon Jones, who battles Thiago Santos at UFC 239. If they both win, he believes, he could somehow get the match:
“Jon Jones is right there and I’m not looking to dance around too long. If there’s an opportunity and things work out, I perform, he performs, you never know.
“There’s a lot of history with a match-up like that,” Rockhold said. “I’ve been there through many training camps for Jon Jones so we’ll see. I’m going to go out there and fight my fight and Jon’s got to win his fight.”
Jones Is Scared According To Rockhold
Of course, Jones has a long-running rivalry with Rockhold’s good friend Daniel Cormier. ‘DC’ is set to defend his heavyweight championship against Stipe Miocic at August’s UFC 241. The awaited trilogy fight between the two bitter rivals is still being discussed quite feverishly. But if Rockhold can get a bout with ‘Bones,’ he won’t turn it down.
Besides, he said, Jones is ‘scared’ to face ‘DC’ at his more natural weight class of heavyweight. The troubled great should fight there, Rockhold claimed, but doesn’t really want to:
“I’m fighting before ‘DC,’ I’m going to take my dibs if the opportunity presents itself. ‘DC,’ I think it’s foolish for him to try to challenge Jon back down, I think Jon should have to come challenge him up for the heavyweight title. That’s where their natural weight is. Jon is a big guy, he cuts a lot of weight too to get down. Jon is scared to fight ‘DC’ at heavyweight. I don’t know why ‘DC’ thinks he’s got to come back down and fight him to prove some point. It doesn’t make sense.
“Jon ain’t talking about fighting ‘DC’ at heavyweight. He’s kind of beating around the bush and he’s trying to bait him back down and antagonize him a little bit. Jon doesn’t really want to fight ‘DC’ at heavyweight.”
Faster Than The Opposition
Rockhold will have to get past Blachowicz first, of course. That could prove no easy task. In his view it is, however, because he’s faster than all of his future light heavyweight opponents:
“I’m faster than all these guys, I’m more technical, these guys can’t make mistakes. I’m going to beat them to the spot, I’m going to make them pay. … I got a heavy left kick and he can’t really stop it. One thing everyone knows, is that I’m a son of a (expletive) when I’m on top of you and Jan Blachowicz ain’t getting up if that happens.”
Can Rockhold truly jump the light heavyweight line in order to fight Jones next?
