Bare Knuckle FC founder David Feldman didn’t take kindly to Luke Rockhold’s critical remarks.
Former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold‘s Bare Knuckle FC debut didn’t go according to plan against Mike Perry in 2023. In his lone BKFC fight at BKFC 41, Rockhold quit in the middle of the second round after getting his teeth knocked out thanks to Perry’s ferocious punches in the ring.
Perry’s win helped propel him to BKFC superstardom and he’s set to make his long-awaited return to the ring later this year against a former UFC star. He’s defeated the likes of Michael ‘Venom’ Page, Eddie Alvarez, and Rockhold during his BKFC tenure.
Since departing BKFC following the Perry fight, Rockhold has been critical of bare-knuckle fighting, calling it a ‘dumb— sport’ and criticizing it for its lack of technicality. Rockhold also scolded BKFC’s vocal fanbase as ‘dumb’, to which BKFC’s social media accounts issued a brutal response.
- BKFC TROLLED ROCKHOLD: Luke Rockhold trolled by BKFC after complaining about getting his teeth destroyed in bare-knuckle boxing
David Feldman points out Luke Rockhold’s hypocrisy in BKFC comments
After Rockhold’s critical comments, it didn’t take long for the head of BKFC to take notice.
During a recent appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, BKFC founder David Feldman responded to Rockhold’s comments about bare-knuckle fighting.
“This is different. As [Darren Till] said, he s— on the sport,” Feldman said of Rockhold.
“But this sport just wasn’t for him either because, he opted to quit. You don’t opt to get knocked out in a fight, but you do opt to quit. And he did opt to quit, and it just wasn’t for him.”
Feldman went on to detail how Rockhold’s comments surprised him after their cordial business dealings.
“He had no problems signing the contract, leading up to the fight, talked great about the promotion the whole entire time,” Feldman explained. “He got his teeth knocked out and I’m sure in the other combat sports, he hasn’t yet. So that was a little shocking to him, but to say bad things about the sport in general, or even the promotion in general when we took very, very good care of him.
“Again, he can fight, he’s a legend, but had he got knocked out by Mike Perry, I would’ve had a different take on this. He chose to quit.”
Rockhold parted ways with BKFC following his loss to Perry. The fight marked his combat sports return after leaving the UFC in 2022, following a loss to Paulo Costa at UFC 278.
After shutting the door on a return to bare-knuckle fighting, Rockhold is weeks away from taking on a longtime foe of Perry in his pro boxing debut.
Luke Rockhold is weeks away from facing Mike Perry’s longtime rival
Rockhold and former UFC title challenger Darren Till headline an intriguing card at Misfits Boxing 22. This will mark Till’s return to the Misfits ring after earning wins over Darren Stewart and Anthony Taylor over his first two ring appearances.
Rockhold and Till have turned up the heat ahead of fight night. The two nearly got into an all-out brawl at a recent press conference, which included Till taking a shot at one of Rockhold’s former romantic partners.
The two former UFC stars will battle for Misfits’s inaugural Bridgerweight title. Former UFC interim titleholder Tony Ferguson will make his professional boxing debut in the co-main event against influencer Salt Papi.