Max Rohskopf has gone into more detail on his decision to quit at UFC on ESPN 11.
Rohskopf collided with Austin Hubbard in the opening bout on the UFC on ESPN 11 card. It became apparent that Hubbard was too much for Rohskopf, who was making his UFC debut. When Rohskopf returned to his stool at the end of the second round, he told his coach Robert Drysdale that he was done. While Drysdale tried motivating his fighter, Rohskopf ended up relaying the message to referee Mark Smith and the fight was waved off.
Max Rohskopf Admits He Didn’t Feel He Belonged At UFC on ESPN 11
Mike Heck of MMAFighting spoke to Rohskopf after his defeat to Hubbard. Rohskopf discussed what went wrong on fight night.
“I’ve done this my whole life. I’ve self-boycotted myself. Even when I was wrestling in high school, I was the best in the state and ended up getting third because I self-boycotted myself. I was one of the best guys in the country in college, was never an All-American when it counted, because I was telling myself that, for whatever reason, I don’t deserve it.
“That’s exactly what I did in my fight with Austin. Sh*t got hard, and I looked at my coach and said, ‘I don’t want to be here anymore.’ Not because I didn’t want to be there, but because I didn’t think I deserved to be there.”
Drysdale received heavy criticism for not throwing in the towel when Rohskopf told him he was done. Drysdale has insisted that had his fighter been in danger, he wouldn’t have hesitated to stop the fight. Rohskopf has come to Drysdale’s defense.
Others haven’t been as understanding. That includes UFC light heavyweight Anthony Smith. “Lionheart” said he respects Drysdale but feels the coach “messed up” and could’ve caused unnecessary damage to a young fighter.
