Pretty boy Luke Rockhold was middleweight champ for the briefest of moments before Michael Bisping came and clobbered him. He’s been sitting on the sidelines a lot since then, coming back to defeat David Branch and get KO’d by Yoel Romero, and at UFC 239 last night, the somewhat douche-y fighter thought he’d give the light-heavyweight division a try.
It did not go well.
No longer one of the bigger guys in his weight class, Rockhold thought he could out-grapple and–even worse–out-strike Jan Blachowicz. But the Polish fighter avoided trouble whenever Rockhold tried to cuddle him, and when they threw leather…
Rockhold wobbled at the end of round 1! #UFC239 pic.twitter.com/7W48D8Df0X
— UFC (@ufc) July 7, 2019
The former 185-champ was simply lacking in power, speed and technique, and not long into the second round, Blachowicz fed him a heavy dose of knuckles that put him down and out. (And possibly even broke Rockhold’s jaw.)
JAN BLACHOWICZ!!!! #UFC239 pic.twitter.com/d6Rx1KpsGT
— UFC (@ufc) July 7, 2019
Rockhold talked a moderate amount of crap in the lead-up to this fight, and got sent home like a scrub. I don’t think there’s a home for him at light-heavyweight, and his window at middleweight is shutting fast. Maybe he should stick to modeling and leave fighting to the young bucks?