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Luke Rockhold has confirmed that Islam Makhachev has "got some tricks" and did throw him during a grappling session.
Speaking to Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, Luke Rockhold addressed AKA (American Kickboxing Academy) head coach Javier Mendez's recent statements about his grappling session with Makhachev. Luke Rockhold jestingly spoke about Mendez's fondness for his Russian students and stated:
“Javier gets a little too far down that Russian stream sometimes. He’s drinking that Stoli (Soviet vodka brand) I think. I don’t know what’s going on with it. Rag-dolled me”, Rockhold laughed and added, “He did throw me. I’m not gonna lie. I used to use him (Makhachev) for training back when like I fought (Lyoto) Machida (in 2015). And I remember I was using him, kind of light sparring with him, like he’s this new kid, showed up, 155-pounder. I was just moving with a good body to move with and I was underestimating him. And I was like, kind of got lazy on the fence and he hit me with a massive head-and-arm throw; just threw me over the top. I was like, ‘Uh, uh. No. No’…I got back up. He’s got some tricks, no doubt. Ragdoll? I don’t know about that. But he did catch me being lazy and threw me once or twice.”
However, Rockhold was adamant that Makhachev didn't 'throw him around.' The former middleweight champion also revealed another name he couldn't dominate in the lower weight division.
“There’s a difference between throwing somebody around and catching somebody with a throw. He’s tough, I mean, as tough as they come. I’ve wrestled and grappled with the best of the best. Him (Islam) and Khabib (Nurmagomedov) are miles apart from everybody else at that weight in the grappling and the wrestling. There’s no one that’s going to really be able to compete there. I rag-doll every other ’55-pounder in the world, and those are the only two that I don’t rag-doll.”
Check out the episode below:
Luke Rockhold vs. Sean Strickland and Islam Makhachev vs. Rafael dos Anjos
In recent years, Luke Rockhold has been spending time at other gyms instead of just AKA. The former UFC middleweight champion has been training under the likes of Henri Hooft and Jason Parillo. Rockhold’s next fight will be a middleweight matchup against Sean Strickland at UFC 268 on November 6th, 2021.
Meanwhile, Islam Makhachev will fight former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 267 on October 30th, 2021. A win over RDA could earn Makhachev a UFC lightweight title shot or a No. 1 contender’s fight at the very least.
