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Daniel Cormier has explained why he believes Luke Rockhold is likely to fight again despite his recent injury setback.
DC notably trained with Rockhold for several years, particularly when Rockhold primarily trained at the AKA (American Kickboxing Academy) gym in San Jose, California.
On an edition of ESPN MMA’s DC & RC show, Daniel Cormier and his co-host Ryan Clark addressed Luke Rockhold’s back injury that caused the latter to withdraw from his UFC 268 fight against Sean Strickland. On being asked whether he feels Rockhold would fight again after his latest injury setback, Cormier said:
“I think he’ll fight again. I know what’s hurt, you know, it’s a herniated disk – L4-L5. And as a person that has dealt with back issues, I know how bad it can be. But I also know that Luke is young and in shape. He’s not over 40 like I was when it happened to me."
Cormier says that Rockhold should have won the bout, as he faced a 'favorable' matchup. Rockhold hasn’t competed in a professional MMA bout since then. Nevertheless, he believes Rockhold could be soon back in action despite the defeat.
"And I believe that he’ll be able to work himself back into fighting shape. I’m disappointed because I was excited to see him compete again. And I thought this was a favorable matchup for Luke Rockhold. But I do believe that we’ll see him fight again.”
You can catch Daniel Cormier’s comments in the video below:
Sean Strickland jibes at Luke Rockhold for his injury withdrawal from UFC 268
Luke Rockhold’s last fight was a second-round KO loss against Jan Blachowicz in a light heavyweight bout at UFC 239 in July 2019.
Rockhold was once regarded as one of the best middleweights in the world, given that he had captured the UFC middleweight title. But since losing the title to Michael Bisping in their 2016 rematch, Rockhold has gone 1-2 inside the octagon.
Rockhold's struggles have prompted his UFC 268 opponent Sean Strickland to take a couple of jibes at him. Strickland posted the following statements on Instagram:
“He was never going to make it to the fight lmao... no one is surprised.”
“I sparred him once and almost put him out.. didn’t even spar the second round, walked out of the gym lmao.. I knew this wasn’t happening.”
The war of words between Strickland and Rockhold hasn’t died down despite their proposed fight falling through. It is believed the UFC is likely to keep Strickland on the UFC 268 fight card, and book him against a different opponent.
UFC 268 will take place on November 6th, 2021. Meanwhile, additional details on Rockhold’s injury and possible comeback timeline are expected to be revealed in the next few days.
