Former UFC Middleweight Champion Luke Rockhold says that Kevin Holland is the only 185-pounder willing to fight him.
Rockhold hasn’t been in action since July 2019. He was knocked out by Jan Blachowicz in a light heavyweight bout. At first, the former 185-pound kingpin wasn’t too eager to make his return to the Octagon. After having some time to mull things over, Rockhold said he’s got the itch to fight again.
At the moment, Rockhold appears to be having issues finding an opponent. Speaking to MMAFighting.com, Rockhold said that Kevin Holland is the only one who has stepped up to the plate.
“I was looking at ‘85ers, top-10 ranked guys, I wanted solid guys. Uriah Hall went the other way and chose a different guy. I know my management talked with Kevin Holland and he actually reached out to me. He’s the only guy that reached out to me personally and was like, ‘Who said I was ducking?’ And I was like, ‘I don’t know, the managers talked and it didn’t sound like it was the direction they wanted to go.’ He was like, ‘No, no, no, let me handle my business and I’ll step up and do my thing.’ That guy, respect to him, he’s the man. He’s the only guy, I’m assuming, that wanted something that’s interesting, so we’ll see if that comes later.
“I know Jack Hermansson didn’t want it. I know a lot of guys in the division, the top-ranked [guys] didn’t want it.”
Holland is expected to meet Kyle Daukaus on October 2. Time will tell whether or not he will eventually go one-on-one with Rockhold.
