The UFC‘s middleweight division is going to be adding another contender to the stacked division. According to ESPN’s Ariel Helwani, former champion, Luke Rockhold (16-5), will be returning to action in the middleweight division.
It has been over a year since we have seen Rockhold inside the UFC. Rockhold had moved up to light heavyweight and was knocked out by Jan Blachowicz in the second round at UFC 239.
Luke Rockhold won’t be calling it a career after all, telling @arielhelwani he hopes to fight again by the end of 2020.
When asked why he decided to come back, Rockhold said, “because I felt like it.” pic.twitter.com/cKT1bXeSvk
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) August 10, 2020
Former UFC champion is returning
After Rockhold suffered the knockout loss, he hinted that he would be walking away from the sport. Rockhold had suffered back to back brutal knockout losses and one resulted in a broken jaw.
Despite the losses, Rockhold was the champion just four fights ago. Rockhold defeated Chris Weidman at UFC 194 to become middleweight champion capping off a two year run where he went 5-0 on his way to the title.
Rockhold and Weidman were scheduled to rematch at UFC 199. However, when Weidman had to pull out, Michael Bisping stepped in. We all know what happened then. Bisping shocked the world by knocking out Rockhold.
Rockhold bounced back with a dominant win over David Branch before losing two straight via knockout. Now, the former champion is going to be returning to the middleweight division.
Another former champion just made a very similar move, and it’s a familiar foe. Chris Weidman just moved back to middleweight after also suffering a brutal knockout in the light heavyweight division.
Today, we released on article about what was next for Weidman. I think Rockhold’s middleweight return just changed that whole situation. To me, it was difficult placing Weidman’s next opponent, but a fight with Rockhold makes perfect sense.
These two men do not like each other and their rematch is years in the making. There aren’t a ton of fights that make sense for either man, so why not pair them up for a contest before the end of the year? That would definitely be a fun fight for both men.