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What's the story?
UFC Hall of Famer Michael Bisping was recently on Ariel Helwani's MMA Show, where he talked to Helwani about his former rival Luke Rockhold.
In an amazing twist that no one saw coming, he had words of encouragement for his former bitter rival after Rockhold's
In case you didn't know...
Luke Rockhold had his last fight against Jan Blachowicz at UFC 239. Unfortunately for him, he could not come back from the defeat he had suffered against Romero with a win. Instead, he was knocked out again, this time by Blachowicz, at the 1 minute and 39 seconds mark of the second round.
The heart of the matter
Ever since his loss, people have been calling for Rockhold to call it quits on his career and retire. However, his former rival, Michael Bisping had something else to say.
"At one point, we were linked together and we were rivals. Those days are gone. I am not even fighting anymore. Not only is he not in my weight class anymore, but I don't compete anymore. I don't look at Luke as a rival, I look at him as a human being. I wish him all the best, I really do."
He went on to talk about how difficult it was for him to see people knocked out and talked about how whatever decision Rockhold would take, was on him.
"I admire the skill it takes to knock somebody out. I never enjoy seeing somebody knocked out. Certainly someone like Luke who has had such a great career, to be knocked out in three of his last four... I know what that feels like to lose. I don't take pleasure in seeing that, I really don't! I wish him all the best! If he continues to fight and proves everybody wrong that would be amazing. If he decides to retire and hangs it up, then God bless him!"
For any quotes taken from this article, please credit Sportskeeda.
You can see the clip here:
What's next?
The future of Rockhold's career is up in the air at the moment. If he should be able to return to the Octagon once more and pick up a victory it would be a fitting way to say farewell to his fans and would help his legacy. Another loss, however, would be extremely detrimental at this point.
