‘2023 could get interesting’ – Former UFC champ Luke Rockhold teases return from retirement

Five and a half months ago, former UFC champion Luke Rockhold declared retirement at 37 years of age. It happened right after his Fight…

By: Milan Ordoñez | 5 months ago
‘2023 could get interesting’ – Former UFC champ Luke Rockhold teases return from retirement
Bloody Elbow 2.0 | Anton Tabuena

Five and a half months ago, former UFC champion Luke Rockhold declared retirement at 37 years of age. It happened right after his Fight of the Night performance against Paulo Costa at UFC 278, which he lost on the scorecards.

“I’ve been through so much the last few years. Thank you, fighting. Thank you UFC. Thank you, Joe. I f—ng can’t do it anymore. I gave it my all and I just didn’t… I’m f—g old,” a visibly distraught Rockhold told Joe Rogan during the Octagon interview.

But as we’ve seen across combat sports, retirement announcements almost always never stick. And at least based on this recent social media post by Rockhold, it’s looking like he’ll be part of that statistic soon (H/T MMA Mania).

Rockhold, who captured the UFC middleweight title in 2015, has gone 1-4 since then. His loss to Costa compiled to a current three-fight skid, which included an unsuccessful one-off run at light heavyweight against former champion Jan Blachowicz. He holds a record of 16-6.

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Milan Ordoñez
Milan Ordoñez

Milan Ordoñez has been covering combat sports since 2012 and has been part of the Bloody Elbow staff since 2016. He’s also competed in amateur mixed martial arts and submission grappling tournaments.

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