Luke Rockhold isn’t one to mince words. While many fighters refuse to disclose any injuries heading into an event, the UFC middleweight champ openly admitted that he tore his MCL during UFC 199’s training camp against Michael Bisping.
The pay-per-view, which features a 185-pound championship tilt between Rockhold and Bisping in the main event, takes place at The Forum on June 4 and Rockhold says he doesn’t need a knee to ‘whoop’ Bisping’s ass.
“I’ve been dealing with a knee injury – I’m not going to lie – with this whole camp,” Rockhold said at the UFC 199 pre-fight press conference, per MMA Junkie. “But I don’t pull out of fights. I fight through injuries; I don’t care what the circumstances are. I tore my MCL. I haven’t grappled this whole camp. I just started kicking last week.”
“I don’t need a knee,” he said. “I don’t even need to walk – I’ll crawl in there and I’ll still whoop your ass. Watch. Come try to grapple, come try to do anything. I’ve been boxing this entire camp, and that’s all I need.”
A torn MCL marks a long list of injuries that have plagued one of MMA’s finest gyms: American Kickboxing Academy. Cain Velasquez, a two-time UFC heavyweight champion, has been sidelined for years due to injuries and, Daniel Cormier, who defends the light heavyweight title against Jon Jones at UFC 200, was forced to pull out of the initial fight at UFC 197 after suffering an interosseous membrane injury in his left leg.
Injuries aside, Rockhold has emerged as one of the top pound-for-pound talents in the sport and will look to solidify himself as a worthy champion when he defends his MW title for the first time on Saturday night.
UFC 197, which also features a bantamweight championship bout between Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber in the co-main event, takes place at The Forum in Inglewood, California on June 4.
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