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Taking a break from UFC, Luke Rockhold is looking forward to show off his grappling skills at Polaris 12 on Saturday.
The former Middleweight Champion will be going up against Nick Rodriguez in the main event. According to Rockhold, he has what it takes to match the ADCC silver medalist inside the cage.
Rockhold shared his thoughts about the upcoming bout in a recent interview with Submission Radio.
Rockhold: I'll get takedowns if I need them
Rockhold is confident about being able to push Rodriguez and clinch the victory that he wants by matching his opponent's skill with his physical strength.
"I mean, he’s a good wrestler for jiu-jitsu. I think he’ll find that I’ll be able to push him there. I’ll be able to get takedowns if I need them. And then when it comes to the grappling, you know, I’m a physical guy, and a lot of these jiu-jitsu guys aren’t physical. And I can match them in so many ways there. So I’m gonna match him."
But he is not very impressed with the modern-day version of jiu-jitsu, where fighters compromise their positions of advantage to go for single attacks. However, he is glad to have an opponent who does not follow that style of fighting and goes toe-to-toe.
"He’s not one of those stupid leg lock guys that just kind of pull guard and butt scoot. This whole modern-day jiu-jitsu thing kind of pisses me off. It’s pretty stupid in the sport of jiu-jitsu, where the guys are all leg lock based and they just compromise themselves trying to get these foot locks. So, it’s nice to have a guy that’s gonna go toe to toe at least."
Rockhold, who has wins over some big names like David Branch, Michael Bisping and Lyoto Machida, is well known for using his grappling skills in UFC. It helped him win the Middleweight title as well, where he finished Chris Weidman with killer punches and claimed a fourth-round TKO win.
So it is not a wonder that he is positive about coming out of this fight with his head held high.
"I’m very capable of doing what I need to do. But I’m just gonna have fun. I’m gonna take it one at a time. I’m gonna go out there and try to put this dude away, put him to sleep. And then, I think beating a guy that took second at Abu Dhabi at heavyweight, I think it should say something. So yeah, I’m OK."
H/t to MMA Junkie for the quotes.
