Luke Rockhold (10-1) has been practically fuming at the ears while he watched the middle weight division in the UFC from afar. Now for better or worse, he will finally get his shot in the big show. With his recent wrist injury taking him off of the promotion’s last event at Strikeforce: Champions on January 12, it’s pretty much official he will take his Strikeforce belt and all the pent up frustration from having to tell strangers he’s a fighter but not in the UFC, to the UFC. For a fighter who holds a well-deserved spot in the top ten middleweight rankings on most of our lists, his temperament is completely understandable at this point.
He will enter the middle weight division backed with some serious hype due to a successful and dominant career in Strikeforce, where he has gone undefeated in his nine fights since joining the organization.
In a division brimming with promising young talent, here are five fights for Luke Rockhold in the UFC that will answer questions the fans are dying to have answered. Yet while making this list, my actions were governed by the philosophy that regardless of Rockhold’s championship belt, or winstreak, he will need to prove he deserves a shot at Anderson Silva by stringing together at least a couple wins in the UFC. That’s why you won’t see him matched up with The Spider on my Christmas wish list anytime soon. With no further ado and rendered in no particular order, here are my picks.
~Luke Rockhold vs. Brian Stann~
Brian Stann is coming off a competitive yet slightly lopsided loss to Michael Bisping. He has been a top contender in the UFC middle weight division recently and has been a tough test to pass for any fighter these days.
His strong stand up skills would be a true test of Rockhold’s abilities to stand and exchange blows with what the best of the division can offer in that department. Sure he’s been found wanting in grappling and take down defense, but that doesn’t mean he won’t be able to test Rockhold on those areas as well. Frankly it’s difficult to gauge Rockhold’s level of skill against the UFC elite since he hasn’t fought them yet.
This fight would be a significant deciding factor on Rockhold’s abilities to strike with the Bisping’s, Belfort’s, and god forbid, the Anderson Silva’s of the world who will capitalize on any mistake he would make if he isn’t prepared for a UFC caliber of striker at this point.
~Luke Rockhold vs. Chris Weidman~
Now that Weidman is out of his fight with Tim Boetsch due to an injury, I believe this would be about as tough a fight for Luke Rockhold as he could ask for, short of being granted an instant title fight. Weidman would definitely provide the MMA nation a strong gauge of Rockhold’s abilities and immediate future among the UFC middleweights.
This fight would propel either fighter to the top of the middleweight rankings list. When Weidman returns from his injury, he will need a strong fight to reestablish his claim as the top contender in a division he only just recently became a contender in.
Rockhold on the other hand needs a win against a top ranked opponent in the sport and what better way to kick off his UFC career than by taking on the absolute best the sport can offer? Not to mention both fighters are injured and may be punching their respective tickets back in for work on the same day.
~Luke Rockhold vs. Tim Boetsch~
Tim Boetsch has been spoiling UFC welcoming parties for some time now. First he shocked the world in a comeback fight in Japan against their hometown hero Yushin Okami. Boetsch weathered a beating in the first two rounds and stormed back in the third to knockout Okami.
After taking a split decision victory over heavily hyped and favorited Hector Lombard, he was given a fight against Chris Weidman. Now that Weidman is injured, a fight against Rockhold may be exactly what match maker Joe Silva is thinking right about now.
~Luke Rockhold vs. Chris Leben~
Leben is nothing but consistent in his ability to beat top contenders and lose to them as well. This type of fighter is ideal for new comers in the UFC in my opinion because Rockhold would have just as much of a chance to lose this fight as he would to win it. Anyone with Leben’s knockout ability must be taken serious, yet in the middle weight division, one can safely assume that anyone who can’t beat The Crippler will probably not be able to hold a spot in the top ten list for long.
Leben is coming off a loss to Mark Munoz and will be fighting Karlos Vemola soon at UFC 155. If he gets past Vemola, a fight with Rockhold would make sense for both men and would provide fans a heavy favorite for fight of the night regardless of who else is on the card.If nothing else, Leben will test Rockhold and turn the fight in to a brawl if necessary.
~Luke Rockhold vs. Lorenz Larkin~
This fight would appear at first glance as slightly melodramatic since neither fighter has fought in the UFC yet and the whole point of this list is to contemplate Rockhold’s ability to hang with the best in the biggest promotion on the planet. Yet the fact that Larkin was supposed to fight Rockhold and considering the feud they recently started, it may be a good first fight in the UFC for both fighters.
When Larkin found out Rockhold had sustained a wrist injury and had pulled out of their upcoming fight, he accused the champ of cowardice. Rockhold fired back with words of his own and on mmafighting.com’s MMA Hour, stated the fight with Larkin would’ve been easy money.
Both men are dangerous strikers, and both deserve a shot in the UFC, so this one would make more sense, however less intriguing at this point.
~Final Thoughts~
Rockhold will hopefully find himself pitted against a house hold name in the UFC. It’s important he is given a true test in the sport right off the bat. Strikeforce provided a strong platform for him to cultivate his skill set but lately it’s held him back from advancing his career further. The true talent in the sport of MMA is firmly rooted in the UFC and everyone knows it.
Hopefully he won’t be granted an immediate title shot against Silva though. We all know crazier shit has gone down in this sport before. It will be interesting to see what happens. I’ll be holding my breath until I find out at least. Silva needs a real threat in the middle weight division to keep him focussed on defending his title and if any of us ever want to see another mind blowing KO by the champ, let’s all hope Rockhold makes waves in the division soon.
Watch the video below to see highlights from Luke Rockhold’s career.
Video courtesy of Strikeforce, Showetime, and Zuffa LLC.