Rockhold wants to fight Anderson Silva

When legend Dan Henderson was announced as UFC middleweight Michael Bisping’s first defense, the leading division contenders were not impressed. Chris Weidman tweeted about the “joke of a system.” Jacare tweeted that Hendo should be in the Hall of Fame, not a title fight. However, Luke Rockhold, the man Bisping took the title from, who had campaigned for an immediate rematch, he rolled with it.

“Technically I don’t think it makes the most sense, of course,” said Rockhold on ESPN’s Five Rounds podcast with Brett Okamoto, as transcribed byy Jed Meshew for MMA Fighting. “It’s Dan. Dan Hendo is a legend, one of the greatest ever and I think they’re just giving him his due respect and giving him a last shot at the one title he’s missed in the sport. … I’m in a tough position. Dan is a very close friend of mine. Like I said, it’s not technically the decision to make but Dan has earned his stripes in this game. … I don’t understand exactly where the reasoning is behind this match-up but I’m excited for Dan to go at it and try to take it and bring it home.”

“I would love an opportunity to right that and finish this. I don’t know if I will get that opportunity given that I know how vulnerable he is to the division, so I need to go make a statement with my next fight and that’s what I plan on doing. … I’ll be ready for a last-minute replacement for this fight if Dan were to trip and stub his toe. There’s nothing I’d love more than to step in on short notice and fix this.”

“Other than that there’s a guy I’ve always wanted to fight and that’s Anderson Silva. Anderson Silva is still in the division, he’s still obviously relevant. He had the controversial loss to Bisping, and I had my loss to Bisping. And obviously fighting my teammate on short notice, I think he’s still very relevant and it’s a fight that makes a lot of sense and would be a fun one to do.

“Personally, looking at the division I think that makes the most sense. I’ve already fought Jacare. Weidman, of course a lot of people talking about that rematch but I don’t really see the sense in it at this point. I’m open to a lot of things but I really like the sound of that match-up now.”

Rockhold recently underwent stem cell replacement for a knee injury, and intends to return to training in about four weeks.