“I’m here to go for Izzy” - Luke Rockhold says he’s gunning for UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya

Luke Rockhold recently shed light on his career and path forward. While on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, the former UFC middleweight champion stated that he had his eyes set on current middleweight king Israel Adesanya.

"I'm not here for one, I'm here to go for it. I'm here to go for f***ing Izzy and here to go for gold! And that's what I want, that's what I'm here for."

After a two-year lay-off from the octagon, Luke Rockhold is scheduled to fight rising middleweight contender Sean Strickland at UFC 268.

Luke Rockhold will face Sean Strickland in a middleweight bout at UFC 268 on Nov. 6, sources confirmed to @bokamotoESPN after an initial report by Aaron Bronsteter.Rockhold has not fought since his loss to Jan Blachowicz in July of 2019. pic.twitter.com/AG2vTXyp2e

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) August 4, 2021

The 36-year old also asserted that the fight with Strickland is the correct path to his ultimate goal of facing 'The Last Stylebender' for the title. Speaking about his next opponent, Luke Rockhold said:

"Strickland is the f***ing path, let's take this b**ch out...the kid's got a good ranking and it's a big stage you know, it's a real fight. The kid's tough. There's no build-ups, this is it, this is now."

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Luke Rockhold recalled an encounter with Sean Strickland in the gym; labels him as 'not a good person'

Luke Rockhold also recalled a brief sparring session with Sean Strickland at his gym. The UFC veteran stated that Strickland was not a good person and had a bad attitude. He explained:

"I just don't like him man, he's just got a bad attitude. He's the guy at the gym that no one likes. The worst energy I've ever felt."

Though the California resident didn't specify details about the sparring session, he promised to take out Sean Strickland at UFC 268.

Watch Luke Rockhold's full interview with Ariel Helwani on 'The MMA Hour' via YouTube, below: (Time Stamp: 1:32:45)

UFC 268 at Madison Square Garden will also feature the highly anticipated rematch between 'The Nigerian Nightmare' Kamaru Usman and Colby 'Chaos' Covington for the UFC welterweight championship. The card is also set to host a championship rematch between Rose Namajunas and Zhang Weili.

UFC 268 is special 💯 pic.twitter.com/Onws9U2kjY

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) August 29, 2021