Since he dropped his title to Michael Bisping in June 2016, Luke Rockhold has not stepped inside a UFC cage. And it looks like he is not planning to do so any time soon.
During Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour, Rockhold expressed his grievances towards the company, particularly with the way he feels he and the other top middleweight contenders are being treated. After laying his own stipulation for agreeing to another fight, he also urged his fellow 185-pounders to take action against the UFC.
“If they’re not putting an interim title on the line, or if they’re not making Bisping fight a contender, I’m not fighting anybody,” Rockhold said (via MMA Fighting). “And so should the rest of the division, too. What’s the point? Without me, Mousasi, Yoel, and Whittaker? I think everyone should just stand their ground, and say f—k you. Put a title on the line or else, f—k, you don’t even have a division.”
“I think everyone is already on strike, aren’t they? We’re all waiting on a title. Whittaker’s down. I’ve voiced my opinion, and I think Mousasi should stand his ground, too. I mean, without us you have no f—ing division. Make something happen.”
With Bisping set to defend his title against Georges St-Pierre for a still undetermined date, there has been a power vacuum among the UFC’s top middleweight contenders. Given this situation, Rockhold says it is now solely up to the company’s brass to straighten up the mess.
“The ball’s definitely in their court, and I think they know that. I think everyone’s not very happy in the situation we’re in right now. I’m sure Yoel’s payment isn’t going to hold him off too long,” Rockhold said. “We’ll see. I think everyone needs to step up and make something happen. The middleweights need to step up and hold their ground.”
“They’re forcing us into a corner. We got to stick up and stay together and make something happen. I’m tired of this sh-t, man.”
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