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Luke Rockhold wants to prove that he's still among the best middleweights on the planet and can compete against the best fighters across the globe. The former champion is looking to prove his mettle by earning a title shot against reigning champion Israel Adesanya.
During a recent interaction with ESPN MMA's Brett Okamoto, Rockhold claimed that he's returning to the UFC after three years to become a world champion again. Rockhold stated that he wants to share the octagon with Adesanya in the future and knows he can still hang with the best fighters in the division:
"I wanna fight, I wanna show that I can fight at 185 and be a challenger for the belt. That's the only reason I'm here, it's the only reason I'm coming back because I want to fight Izzy [Israel Adesanya], because I want to fight for the championship. I want to make a run up this thing and I know I can, you know?"
"I've pushed my body, I've tested my body, I still f***ing got it and you know, it's just having that presentness and that hunger and not getting distracted and having the weight of everything else that I've carried over over the career..."
Watch the interview below:
Luke Rockhold wants to make a statement by putting away Paulo Costa in his upcoming fight
In July, Luke Rockhold is expected to take on former title challenger Paulo Costa in a middleweight clash at UFC 277. The potential fight will mark Rockhold's return to the octagon after three years following a second-round knockout loss to Jan Blachowicz at UFC 239 in July 2019.
Both Costa and Rockhold will be heading into the fight with back-to-back losses to their names and will be looking to pick up a big win to establish themselves as legitimate contenders in the division.
Although Costa hasn't performed well lately, Rockhold won't make the mistake of underestimating the Brazilian. He regards Costa as one of the best middleweights in the world and pointed out how Marvin Vettori failed to finish the 31-year-old during their fight back in October last year.
However, Luke Rockhold believes in his abilities and knows that he can make a big statement by picking up a win against UFC's No.4-ranked 185-pounder:
"I think Paulo still stands as one of the best in the game and no one has been able to make... Marvin Vettori wasn't able to put him away. So I go out there and beat this [guy], put him away, it's like 'what the f**k is up?' Let's go, so that's what I want, that's all I want. I want to go out there, I want to fight and I'm going to prove it to myself..."
