Luke Rockhold has declared that his toughest MMA fight came years before he ever won UFC middleweight gold.
During a tremendous run in the sport’s top promotion Rockhold managed to defeat Lyoto Machida and Michael Bisping en route to dethroning Chris Weidman. However, it was his run to the Strikeforce belt where he says he faced his hardest test.
Now, he’s taking on the world of Misfits Boxing, where he will face Darren Till in his debut on Saturday night in Manchester.
Luke Rockhold says hardest fight was Jacare Souza Strikeforce title showdown
After fighting some of the all-time greats, and at times losing, Luke Rockhold insists that what makes for a truly tough fight is the build-up. He noted in an exclusive chat with Bloody Elbow that various factors including weight cut can make for a struggle, noting one early fight as his hardest.
“Every fight is different because of how your preparation and your weight cut goes,” he explained. “Sometimes things just don’t go right. Some of the toughest fights I’ve been in? I think honestly at the time the Jacare fight in Strikeforce was f—ing hard.
“That guy was legit at that time and I was on a high, for sure. Then Chris Weidman, he never quits. He was able to just keep coming forward.”
Luke Rockhold refuses to rule out MMA return after turning 40
The end to Rockhold’s UFC career was not quite what he was looking for, losing his last three amid struggles with injuries. However, after trying out BKFC, Karate Combat, submission grappling and now boxing, he refuses to hang up his MMA gloves just yet.
“I’ve been working my f—ing a– off,” he insists. “I’m not 30 any more, I’m 40 and when you’re 40 you have to get up every day and work even if you have a couple beers with the boys. You have to get up and run, hit the sauna, go to work, go to this and that.
“I’m not holding back and I’m not in Ibiza on stage out of my mind like Darren… Let me put Till down first and then we can talk.”