Luke Rockhold
Former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold believes that Khamzat Chimaev chickened out when the pair were rumored to fight
Luke Rockhold will return to competition on July 30 at UFC 277 in Dallas, Texas, against Paulo Costa. Rockhold has been weighing in on a comeback for quite some time, and he booked a fight with rising contender Sean Strickland for Nov. 2021 at UFC 268, only for him to be forced out with an injury.
It was also rumored that he might face the up and comer Chechen superstar Khamzat Chimaev. Speaking about his upcoming fight with Paulo Costa and the Sean Strickland fight that fell apart, he said, “[The challenge] gets me up in the morning,” Rockhold told ESPN MMA. “I’m not here to fight bums. I’m here to fight people that have proven their worth, that gets me excited. I don’t get excited to get up and fight f—king idiots. Honestly, the Sean Strickland thing wasn’t that motivating. Paulo, he’s tested himself against the best and he’s just a f—king piece of s—t, he’s a meathead. So there’s certain parts about him that just get me excited to go correct the situation and get back on top. I want people that motivate me.”
He also addressed his matchup with Khamzat Chimaev that failed to materialize by saying, “Khamzat didn’t take the fight, by the way, we were set to fight. He wanted to stay at 170. I think that was a wise move for him at this point.”
Images of the physical damage inflicted by Jorge Masvidal on Colby Covington have finally been released. TMZ Sports shared an image this afternoon (Mon., May 2, 2022) of the former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) interim Welterweight titleholder from the night of his alleged disguised attack.
Covington has recently claimed he’s suffered brain damage in addition to the damage to his tooth and wristwatch. Masvidal is pleading not guilty to his aggravated battery and criminal mischief charges.
Covington’s attorney Bradford Cohen said in his request: “Interestingly, the images do not demonstrate an injury aside from a small chip in C.C.’s fake tooth.
“The evidence collected thus far clearly contradicts C.C.’s allegations. C.C. claims that Defendant hit him from behind.
“Exclusive footage shows that during the incident, C.C. was facing the individual he identified as Defendant.
“In fact, C.C. was looking at Defendant head-on prior to taking the hit then appears to run from Defendant in fear.”
Khamzat Chimaev was amused by the pictures, and reacted to them on Twitter with a couple of laughing emojis.
More MMA news
Follow our dedicated MMA page for instant MMA news and updates