Consider Luke Rockhold truly one and done when it comes to his brief stint with BKFC.
The former UFC middleweight champion made the surprising move to bare-knuckle fighting back in 2023 for a marquee matchup against Mike Perry. The fight didnāt go his way with Rockhold succumbing to punches in the second round after his teeth were broken and he suffered a gruesome cut across his lip.
Immediately afterwards, Rockhold admitted bare-knuckle fighting wasnāt for him, and truth be told, heās just not that impressed with the sport as a whole.
āBare-knuckle boxing is not a fight,ā Rockhold told MMA Fighting. āI realized I [walked in there], Iām not losing my fcking teeth without using everything Iāve worked for my whole life. People are fcking dumb. Thatās a dumbass sport.
āMetal [ropes] that you just hit, and they throw you back into the brawl. Thereās no way to gauge that distance, and itās like whoās willing to lose their face first for f*cking nothing.ā
Rockhold wasnāt allowed to use many of his best weapons because he could only throw punches in the fight against Perry. Well known for having some incredibly nasty kicks and a strong ground game, Rockhold limited himself by going to BKFC and heās actually doing that again with his upcoming boxing match against Darren Till at a Misfits Boxing event on Aug. 30.
While both sports involve trading punches, Rockhold says nothing took away weapons from him more than bare-knuckle fighting and thereās a much different skill set involved with boxing.
āIt couldnāt be any worse than bare-knuckle boxing, Iāll tell you that,ā Rockhold said about preparation for his boxing debut. āIām pretty sure I hamstringed myself as hard as you can [in that fight]. This is different. I feel like my boxing has come a long way. No one has really seen it, for me to put the shoes on, get in the ring, get that dance, get that movement. F*ck, I can do it. I can do it with the best of the game, and Iām hurting people left and right at the gym. I donāt expect it to be any different.
āI go out there and do what Iām doing everyday now, I keep training, stay healthy, I donāt think Darren should be able to exist more than a few rounds.ā
As much as he didnāt enjoy the whole BKFC experience, Rockhold isnāt opposed to taking the gloves off again for another fight, but he wants a different rule set this time.
Rather than just blasting each other with punches, the 22-fight MMA veteran would love to throw one more wrinkle into a bare-knuckle fight.
āOne thing that I would do that I think is way more badass, and not so fcking stupid, because you canāt gauge distance in bare-knuckle boxing,ā Rockhold said. āI would do bare-knuckle kickboxing. I would fcking rematch Mike Perry and put him to sleep. I donāt think he wants that.
āThereās no way to gauge distance in bare-knuckle boxing, and theyāve got metal ropes, youāre just bouncing in and out. Bare-knuckle kickboxing, I think there would actually be some technique to it, and I think that would be badass. That would be a real, real fight. That would be fun. Iād f*ck somebody up in that.ā
Rockhold has already checked off a lot of boxes when it comes to his combat sports career after competing in MMA, bare-knuckle fighting, Karate Combat, grappling matches and now making his professional boxing debut in August.
Heās excited to add one more sport to his rĆ©sumĆ© with hopes that boxing might become his primary focus after facing Till.
āI like it,ā Rockhold said about competing in every combat sport. āPeople have got to stay challenged. I really believe in it. People f*cking cut off. People are soft. Itās a copy culture. Everyoneās just in technology and soft bullshit. I like to challenge myself.ā
As far as that rematch with Perry goes, Rockhold is dead serious when it comes to fighting him again, but only if itās bare-knuckle kickboxing this time.
āIt would be f*cking badass,ā Rockhold said about fighting Perry again. āCāmon boy.ā
I agree they should have kicks but the ring sounds like an actual fight. Heās talking about āsport.ā
Bellator spend God knows how much money on Corey Anderson, Ryan Bader,Mousasi,Rory MacDonald,Matt Matrione. Where is Bellator at now?
Rockhold is but hurt he got his ass kicked by Platinum
Back in the day, old-timey bare knuckle fighters realized that punching people in the face/head without gloves runs the risk of breaking hands, so they did a lot of parrying and body shots, esp. since bare knuckle fighting wasnāt a full-time trade.
Nowadays, the typical bare knuckle fighter is an MMA washout who is headhunting and looking for the quick finish. Makes for a very exciting spectator sport, but it may as well be called CTEFC
Rockhold is right that it is a dumbass sport for competitors, esp. given the risk vs reward.
LOL
Heās making news for both shitting on BJJ and shitting on bare knuckle. Iām starting to think this guy likes to complain.
Heās the American version of Bisping
I noticed
Itās exciting to watch, but it does also serve as a great example of why they stopped doing things that way.
Relevant
If I got my teeth knocked out I would hate it also