Earlier this year, Luke Rockhold voiced his intentions of moving up to the light heavyweight division and was promptly called out by Alexander Gustafsson who volunteered to be the one-man welcoming party to the division for the former middleweight champion. The fight with Gustafsson was never made, however, and now Luke Rockhold is headed to New York to face Chris Weidman at UFC 230. But that doesn’t mean Luke Rockhold is not still eying an eventual light heavyweight run. (via MMAJunkie.com)
“I like the light heavyweight division – I think it’s for the taking,” Rockhold said. “‘DC,’ the complication with him – he’s tossing and turning. I just want the thing to really solidify itself and iron it out. I want a matchup – I want a sexy matchup, and I want to get up there and I want to do some damage, and I want it to mean something. I don’t want to have to fight the best guy in the division in Alexander Gustafsson and have to backtrack if ‘DC’ doesn’t fight and I have to fight someone else lower – what’s the (expletive) point?
“I want it to mean something, and for me, everything is open right now. I don’t need to rush anything. Everything is open right now. I don’t need to rush anything. This is good. They’ve got to give me something sexy and entice me with something good. Nothing’s official.
“I know I’m a lot better fighter at 205 and I could do a lot of damage.”
So then why hasn’t Rockhold moved up yet? It is because of the reigning champ-champ and close friend of Luke Rockhold, Daniel Cormier.
“There’s a certain amount of respect, and ‘DC’ is my brother. We came from the (expletive) very beginning together. I’m not going to step on his toes. I’m going to let him close out the way he wants to. I’ve got plenty of time. I’m training, I’m healthy, getting healthy – I’m nearly there. We’ll see what’s up. Madison Square Garden is very appealing. I like that stage – I’ve always wanted to fight there. I’ve got to get the right matchup and we’ll see what comes to be.”
Do you believe Luke Rockhold would be better off moving to 205?
