MANILA, Philippines – Seven years ago on December 12, 2015, Luke Rockhold achieved a huge upset when he defeated then-UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman in UFC 194.
Rockhold, in disbelief with his fourth round technical knockout of Weidman, who successfully defended the belt three times, collapsed in the center of the octagon and was met by his friend and colleague Daniel Cormier, who carried him. Cain Velasquez and Khabib Nurmagomedov then joined the two in an emotional group hug. Four friends lending each other support.
Rockhold was UFC middleweight champion. He is one of only five people to achieve the feat of being Strikeforce and UFC belt holders, with the others being Ronda Rousey, Meisha Tate, Cris Cyborg and Frank Shamrock.
Since that huge win, Rockhold has battled a series of injuries that has seen him go 1-3 since, including two consecutive losses. That has been four UFC matches in the last seven years.
However, Rockhold (16-5, 6-4 in the UFC) is back for UFC 278 on Sunday, August 21 (Manila time), where he will be up against Paulo Costa (13-2, 5-2 in the UFC) in a light heavyweight match that is the co-main event
Even three years out, Rockhold is still a main eventer. That shows his pedigree and the quality of a fighter that he is.
Costa himself is in a two-game slide. There is concern for both men as this match takes on a greater meaning.
At age 37, Luke has seen his best days behind him. For now, he wants to make one last great run. This time in the light heavyweight division where Jiri Prochazka is king.
Right now, Costa stands before him.
“In the match where I won the Strikeforce championship, I came in after being 19 months on the shelf with an injury,” Rockhold pointed out. “I built my mind through my training and reset my body and mind and came out perfectly.
Rockhold went out and defeated Ronaldo Souza for the Strikeforce championship.
“Today, I am ready to go (after being three years on the shelf).
As for those devastating leg kicks that he is known for, Rockhold enthused, “They are ready to launch. They’ll be flying.”
With regards to the fight against Costa, Rockhold feels that he handles adversity better than his opponent.
“I took a loss in the second fight of my career (against Tony Rubalcava),” pointed out the California native. “Then I came back and won a championship. Then in my UFC debut, I got knocked out by Vitor Belfort and people were saying I am done. But I came back and got UFC middleweight gold. The closer this fight gets; I feel this man weakening. I am ready as ever.”
Costa, on the other hand, looked bad against current UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and was outworked and outfought by Marvin Vettori in his last fight. In the last fight of his, Costa came in 25 pounds overweight and lost badly. Now, he has been moved up by UFC President Dana White to the light heavyweight division.
In spite of having fought a few times since 2015, Rockhold’s body of work is outstanding, having fought some Hall of Famers and all-timers in Mike Bisping (twice), Weidman, Lyoto Machida, Belfort, Keith Jardine and Jan Blachowicz to name a few.
“I’ve done it all in this game. I am not coming back because I need to. I am coming back because I want to. This is about the power of the mind and who I am. It is a testament to how I live my life.”
“People are intrigued because of my comeback because they can feel my energy. I got everybody excited. I am not living a lie. I am going out there dangerous.”
“This is for DC (Cormier), Cain, Khabib, Chito (Vera) and everybody who believes in me. It’s for them.”
And hopefully for Rockhold, seven years after he last tasted UFC gold, three years after his last fight, there’s a good story in this.
UFC 278 will be shown in Manila at 8 a.m. on Sunday on the Premier Sports Channel on Skycable and Cignal as well as on the TapGo streaming application.