Former UFC and Strikeforce middleweight champion Luke Rockhold has not fought since losing to Jan Blachowicz via KO in Round 2 at UFC 239 on July 6, 2019. Rockhold spoke recently with Damon Martin for MMA Fighting, and talked about the break.
I wanted time to be able to do things I haven’t been able to do and travel and not have any barriers of training camp and all these things, said Rockhold. It’s getting around, traveling, doing a lot. I’ve been getting out to Montana, out to places that aren’t so crowded, a little more free-wheeling to say the least. Enjoying life.
Doing things, traveling, the things I wasn’t able to do. Letting my body heal up, too. I was compromising myself so much the past few years. I opted to get shoulder surgery and fix my labrum and my rotator cuff that was kind of nagging at me for a while.
Fifteen years of continually fighting the best guys in the world, it’s a lot on your shoulders. It’s just nice to get away and focus on other things and there will be a life after fighting. Aligning myself with certain things that make me happy outside. There’s a lot that goes into it. Time definitely does heal all wounds.
The COVID-19 global pandemic has shuttered much of this world’s fun, as Rockhold knows only too well.
The world’s f***king boring, he said. I need some more excitement. Kind of really comes down to that. Options are limited and I do miss fighting. Fighting is a part of me, and I still have a lot left in me, and the world’s f***ing boring and I need something more.
Right now there’s no exact timeline for Rockhold to return because he’s still allowing his body to finish healing before putting himself through the stress of a full training camp.
My shoulder’s coming around. I opted to do this shoulder surgery. I had an opportunity to get that done during COVID. Coming around that and everything else is feeling pretty good. Just letting the hands and the wrist and all that [without the] impact of continually punching and cracking and missing. It’s nice.
Everything’s coming back together. It’s motivating seeing the current climate of what’s going on out there. I think it needs a little push, it needs some excitement itself.
I’m not done. I don’t feel like I’m done. I feel like I have a lot more in me. I enjoy fighting. When I’m in the gym, I’m still the best motherf***er there. It’s about fighting, stepping into that cage with a clear head and healthy body, and taking out whoever’s in front of me.
I feel being healthy and with a clear mind with nothing on my shoulders, I’m a problem for every one of these guys.”
