Luke Rockhold (photo via YouTube)

By FCF Staff

It’s not clear whether Luke Rockhold will fight again, but recently the former Strikeforce and UFC champ reported he wishes he could have fought the legendary, Anderson Silva.

Following Rockhold’s knockout loss to Jan Blachowicz last July, the 35 year-old fighter has been non-committal, in terms of whether he’ll fight again. But, while speaking on the Major Waves Podcast, and reflecting on his career, Rockhold said this (quote via MMA Junkie).

“I wish I would have had the chance to fight Anderson (Silva),” Rockhold said. “Especially in that time, I think I would have beat him. I don’t know – I think there’s just promotional reasons. They didn’t see it quite right at that time. If I would have beat Vitor (Belfort), then me and Anderson would have fought right away, straight away. But then I had to go reprove myself through the ranks after that loss.”

Rockhold (16-5) joined the UFC in 2013 but was knocked out by Vitor Belfort in his first bout with the promotion. The California fighter proceeded to win four straight to earn a title fight with then champion, Chris Weidman, who had ended Silva’s storied reign as the middleweight champ.

Rockhold secured the belt by stopping Weidman in 2015, but he was knocked out by Michael Bisping in his first title defense, which took place in 2016.

The 44 year-old Silva (34-10) hasn’t fought since May, 2019, when he incurred a TKO loss (due to injury) to Jared Cannonier.