Anyone who’s watched a lot of UFC events amid the pandemic in 2020 might remember Max Rohskopf. The 26-year-old lightweight competitor infamously quit on his stool as he was about to enter the third round of his fight against Austin Hubbard last June.
Life had been expectedly rough for Rohskopf in the succeeding months. As he told MMA Junkie in a recent interview, he’d gotten a lot of flak from both his training partners and strangers who would call him up just to give him a hard time.
“There were some people that I actually trained with that were saying stuff,” he said. “I thought that was funny because they know better. The funniest one was someone was telling me to donate the money that I got paid because I probably grew up like a rich kid and shit.
“I’m like, ‘Do your f—king research,’ because I was f—ng dirt poor my whole life, and I still am. And so it’s like, ‘F—k you, dude.’ I thought that that one was funny. I had people get my phone number actually and calling me and texting me and shit, too.”
Rohskopf’s forgettable showing in his UFC debut didn’t do wonders for his financial situation. But it did light a fire under him.
“I felt like before they cut me, even though it didn’t go the way I wanted, I thought I was close to somewhat changing my life, but then they cut me. I’m like, ‘All right, well, f—k, I guess I got to start (over),’” he said. “Took some time, and I didn’t leave my room. I spent a lot of money on Postmates ordering food because I didn’t want to leave the house.
“Once they cut me and I was like, ‘Man, I’ve got to figure some shit out,’ because before that, I was making like $200 every two weeks. I didn’t have my own apartment. I was living in Robert Drysdale’s pool house. I was just struggling to make it, just training every day, just waiting until I could start making some real money and change my life forever.”
Rohskopf has since put everything behind him and is now on the path to bouncing back. He’s currently booked for his MMA return at Cage Warriors 126 on August 1st, and he’s welcoming the disparagements thrown at him with open arms.
“In the last two or three years, for whatever reason, people thought I was some kind of talented kid. That’s never been me, and that’s never been the reason why I’ve had any amount of success at all. It’s always been a little bit more of an underdog, ‘f—k you,’ hard-working attitude, and I think I lost a little bit. It feels good to kind of feel like I have that back.
“(I’d like to) just let people think the worst of me. I like that a little bit more than people thinking I’m this or people thinking I’m all that. I’d rather people think I f—king suck and then take it from that angle, I guess. I’m never going to come out and make excuses for that because it’s on me – no one else but me.”
The fight with Hubbard marks the only loss in Rohskopf’s professional record, which currently stands at 5-1. All of his wins ended by submission, four of which happened in the first round.
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