Daniel Cormier Wants Luke Rockhold to Fight at 185 Pounds

The former Middleweight champion, Luke Rockhold, is desperately looking for a comeback fight to the UFC octagon. After a string of dull years and injuries in his MMA career, the 36-year-old was on the verge of hanging his gloves. But Rockhold seems to have figured what he wants next in the past one-year layoff.

On the ESPN MMA Podcast, Daniel Cormier and Ariel Helwani chat on Rockhold’s past, his run in the promotion, and his comeback fight opponent.

Both DC and Helwani seemed ecstatic to see a probable Light-Heavyweight bout between Luke Rockhold and Anthony Smith. They believe the duo shared bad blood, which can just add up to the hype of this charismatic matchup.

“I think they (Rockhold & Smith) had some bad blood, I wouldn’t mind seeing Luke and Anthony. But honestly, I’d prefer Luke back at 185 (Middleweight). That’s just where he is more natural. And guess what, the Jan Blachowicz loss doesn’t look bad anymore. Everybody talking about Oh! Luke Rockhold’s done knocked out by Jan Blachowicz and Yoel Romero. Like who doesn’t? Jan Blachowicz loss does not look bad as it did in that moment. I’d like to see him come back, but I’d like to see him fight at 185.” said DC.

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Middleweight or Light-Heavyweight? Where should Luke Rockhold fight at?

Rockhold made his UFC debut in 2008 in its Middleweight division. He secured 9 wins in a row as he began his run with the promotion. He was crowned as the UFC Middleweight champion in 2015, wherein he secured a TKO win over Chris Weidman.

Rockhold couldn’t sustain his championship title and lost it to Michael Bisping a year later. Since then, he’s lost 2 times and won just a single fight against David Branch in 2017. Moving a notch up, Rockhold competed at the Light-Heavyweight division, where he faced a brutal TKO loss to Jan Blachowicz.

He hasn’t stepped inside the octagon for more than a year now. Coming after a long layoff, the American would be thrilled to start it right from the scratch and make his way to the top.

Ideally, Rockhold sticking to the 185 division would be lucrative for the former champion instead of fetching his wretched run at the Light-Heavyweight. Derek Brunson, Darren Till, Marvin Vettori, or Kelvin Gastelum can be a good stylistic matchup for the former champion to begin his run in the Middleweight roster.

However, even if he wills to fight at Light-Heavyweight, Anthony Smith currently can be the one to touch gloves with him.

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Where and against whom would you like to see Rockhold compete next?

Share your thoughts in the comments below.