Luke Rockhold is on standby should someone pull out of the upcoming Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) interim middleweight title bout.
On July 8 inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, Yoel Romero and Robert Whittaker will compete for the interim 185-pound gold. The bout will serve as UFC 213‘s co-main event.
Rockhold has been calling for a bout with fourth ranked middleweight Gegard Mousasi. “The Dreamcatcher” is looking for a better deal before re-signing with the UFC. In the meantime, Rockhold told TMZ that he’d be willing to step up should Romero or Whittaker go down (via Bloody Elbow):
“Ask Mousasi, that’s what they want. I like it. It’s just a matter of…he’s a man of principle, so I give him some credit, he’s going to wait and see the best offer. Can’t fault a man for that, but I think that’s the fight that makes sense right now. I’m training. I’ll be ready. (If) something happens to Yoel, Whittaker, I’ll be ready to fill in too.”
A former middleweight champion himself, Rockhold knows what it’s like to compete under the bright lights. He lost his title to Michael Bisping back in June 2016 and hasn’t fought since due to an injury.
