Aussie KO call amid crazy press conference brawl<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cAnd that\u2019s actually the thing now motivating me,\u201d Rockhold told Fox Sports Australia on the eve of his Misfits debut.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m here because of these guys \u2013 these p***ies — who aren\u2019t real fighters.<\/p>\n
\u201cSure, Misfits does have some real guys on its roster.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut there\u2019s others in the sport who don\u2019t deserve to be here and just run their mouths.<\/p>\n
\u201cGuys like Jake Paul.<\/p>\n
\u201cDillon Danis too, that guy needs to shut his f***ing mouth.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d actually love the chance to shut up that little sewer rat.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d d*** slap that kid.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rockhold also took aim at Paul for recently challenging UK heavyweight Anthony Joshua, only to then sign on for a November exhibition bout against Gervonta \u2018Tank\u2019 Davis, who competes at just 60kg.<\/p>\n
Skye Nicolson ready for Brisbane battle | 00:38<\/p>\n
\u201cI respect men that fight,\u201d the former Octagon champ continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause there is something about walking into either a ring or cage that you have to respect.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut to do it against much older men, much smaller men, lesser men \u2026 to have all these different circumstances, it\u2019s bulls****.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese guys don\u2019t deserve any credibility.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd that\u2019s why I\u2019ll happily face Jake Paul once he\u2019s done fighting senior citizens and midgets.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe he\u2019ll step up and fight a real fighter.\u201d<\/p>\n
Way back in 2018, Rockhold was famously slated to headline UFC 221 in Perth against Whittaker, who had himself just been elevated to middleweight king after Georges St Pierre retired.<\/p>\n
However, when Bobby Knuckles contracted a serious case of chicken pox during the build \u2013 and was subsequently ruled out after his skin bubbled and blistered — Rockhold then agreed to face Yoel Romero, even after the Cuban monster weighed in well overweight on fight eve.<\/p>\n
It was a decision that saw Rockhold subsequently kayoed, lose three straight and ultimately leave the UFC altogether. <\/p>\n
\u201cAnd from time to time, yeah, I do think about it,\u201d he conceded this week of what became a crazy sliding doors moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt that time, Whittaker was going to be a great fight for me.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I definitely wanted to test myself against him.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut then the way circumstances played out, with Romero missing weight and everything, it was extremely unfortunate.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut hey, you never know now with Misfits \u2026 this s*** can still happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rockhold added that the time was now right for Whittaker, who was once previously in discussions for an all-Australian showdown with now IBF cruiserweight champ Opetaia. <\/p>\n
Aussie boxing promoters No Limit would also be keen to strike a deal with the Sydneysider should he offer to switch sports, having also previously tried to make a bout between himself and Paul Gallen. <\/p>\n
Tszyu v Ismaili: Full Fight Highlights | 04:41<\/p>\n
Now aged 34, Whittaker has lost two straight UFC fights — and four of his past seven — however the future Hall of Famer remains ranked at No.8.<\/p>\n
Many are also convinced \u2018The Reaper\u2019 was robbed in his most recent decision loss against hyped title contender Reinier de Ridder.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut is he really going to go chase a UFC world title back down?\u201d Rockhold asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cMisfits are doing some great things and a guy like Whittaker? Absolutely, he would be a great fit.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe guy is a huge name with great hands, so if he wants to jump, why not?<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, we all need change.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the zest of life and what keeps things interesting.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s why you don\u2019t want to be with the same broad your whole life, right? You need a little flavour from time to time.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo if Rob wants to switch over and do his thing, yeah, that would be a fun dance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ironically, Till is also a former Whittaker opponent \u2013 having narrowly lost a 2020 showdown between the pair on points.<\/p>\n
He also agreed the Australian would be an immediate superstar in the crossover boxing space, declaring: \u201cF***ing hell, Misfits would more than welcome Rob right now if he wants to come over.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was also the Whittaker loss that started a run of three straight losses for Till, before he also left the UFC.<\/p>\n
Asked if he ever looked back on his own showdown with The Reaper, and how things may have played out differently in victory, he says: \u201cI do look back on that fight, yeah.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m someone who tries to live their life with no regrets but, yeah, there is a thing inside me where sometimes I think \u2018if I win that fight what would\u2019ve happened?\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe I go on to fight (then champion) Israel Adesanya.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd there are people who would give that fight to me.<\/p>\n
\u201cOthers say Rob nicked it in the fifth.<\/p>\n
\u201cI dunno.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it was one of them close fights, so you can\u2019t be mad.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd my journey has been mapped out differently.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s forward motion only.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, Rockhold played down Till\u2019s recent rise and rise in crossover boxing fights \u2013 where he has won three straight in 2025 \u2013 declaring his rivals were \u201cbums\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I can hit,\u201d Rockhold stressed. \u201cAnd I hit my target.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut Darren Till? He\u2019s been fighting bums.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd barely getting by doing that.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s got good hands but he hasn\u2019t been able to put these bums away.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"American superstar Jake Paul has been branded a \u201cp***y\u201d and weight bully by former UFC champ Luke Rockhold…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":105344,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[8075,64,75771,75776,63,689,75772,802,75760,651,75774,75769,75762,75775,29886,75759,75767,75766,75758,75773,75777,75770,75761,50513,75768,11081,41896,75763,673,2782,11876,43766,677,2821,46,668,75764,701,17829,17831,75765,21342,11854,85,670,21343,75757,3439,39910],"class_list":["post-105343","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-anthony-joshua","tag-au","tag-aussie-boxing","tag-aussie-boxing-promoters","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-australian-fight-fans","tag-boxing","tag-boxing-showdown","tag-brisbane","tag-chicken-pox","tag-crazy-press-conference","tag-crossover-boxing","tag-crossover-boxing-space","tag-davis","tag-decision-loss","tag-doors-moment","tag-doors-moment-stings","tag-eight-year-sliding-doors","tag-englishman-darren-till","tag-exhibition-bout","tag-fight-eve","tag-fighting-senior-citizens","tag-georges-st-pierre","tag-hyped-title-contender","tag-luke-rockhold","tag-michael-bisping","tag-middleweight-division","tag-new-south-wales","tag-nick-walshaw","tag-nikita-tszyu","tag-no-limit","tag-oceania","tag-paul-gallen","tag-perth","tag-press-conference","tag-press-conference-brawl","tag-queensland","tag-reinier-de-ridder","tag-robert-whittaker","tag-sewer-rat","tag-skye-nicolson","tag-sliding-doors-moment","tag-sports","tag-sydney","tag-urvashi-singh","tag-way-circumstances","tag-western-australia","tag-yoel-romero"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105343","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105343"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105343\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105344"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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