Luke Rockhold’s post-UFC career didn’t go according to plan.
The former UFC and Strikeforce Middleweight Champion appears to be leaning towards combat sports retirement following a devastating knockout loss to Darren Till in the main event of Misfits Boxing 22 last weekend.
Rockhold had an oxygen mask put over his face after suffering the seventh KO defeat of his fighting career.
This was Rockhold’s pro boxing debut. As you may recall, the MMA veteran made his bare knuckle boxing debut in 2023, where he lost a tooth in a nasty TKO loss to the ‘King of Violence’ Mike Perry.
Daniel Cormier, a longtime friend and teammate of Rockhold’s, spoke on what could be his final fight ever.
Photo by Ben Roberts Photo/Getty ImagesDaniel Cormier on Luke Rockhold’s KO loss in Misfits Boxing: ‘These fights mean nothing’
Cormier said Till has always been a ‘tremendous’ boxer.
Stylistically, it wasn’t the best fight for Rockhold as the 40-year-old has been on the receiving end of multiple highlight-reel knockouts, from a jacked Vitor Belfort to British rival Michael Bisping.
Cormier addressed Rockhold’s latest setback on Three Rounds.
“I have now watched Luke, who’s one of my great friends and a guy that had a great career, get beat in bare knuckle boxing by Mike Perry, broke his jaw and his teeth and get knocked out badly against Darren Till,” Cormier said.
“For me, what makes me sad is watching guys that have had those careers go and fight these fights that are really meaning, they mean nothing,” Cormier continued.
“I guess it’s for money, but it sucks when you see a guy that was a champion, all of a sudden, almost say to hell with the legacy… I’m just gonna go get paid.
“It felt like Luke did a good job of helping to build the fight with the bad blood and everything. But when you get past the surface, one of Luke’s biggest issues has been, and I can say this as a friend and someone who loves him, is when Michael Bisping was able to hit him, people realized, ‘oh my God, if I can hit him, I can put him out…’
“So, then they started going balls to the wall and trying to hit him, and then they would put him out…
“But now he’s boxing where you’re definitely going to get hit. And that, to me, is the problem,” Cormier said of Rockhold.
Daniel Cormier says Darren Till should fight Jake Paul next
Till has been eyeing a fight with Jake Paul for a few years now.
Till claimed in his post-fight interview that Paul would not accept a fight against him, a 32-year-old boxer entering his prime.
Following his win over Rockhold, Cormier mentioned Till’s next opponent should be Jake Paul.
Paul is currently slated to fight boxing superstar Gervonta Davis on Nov. 14.