No quit: What Max Rohskopf learned after UFC release and why he’s returning to MMA

No quit: What Max Rohskopf learned after UFC release and why he’s returning to MMA

Max Rohskopf hasn’t spoken publicly since his UFC release.

Things were confusing and complicated for a while. After being given his pink slip, Rohskopf (5-1) laid low and deleted his social media, a decision that was a long time in the making. He endured a period of inactivity that was out of character and completely foreign. But he thinks he’s finally figured it out.

Around this time in 2020, Rohskopf struggled to find motivation. More takeout food was ordered than jiu-jitsu drilled. His internal compass was broken. Financially, mentally, emotionally he sacrificed so much for his dream. To have it play out the way it did, on the stool in a flurry of online criticism, was numbing. The previously intense fire was burned out.

“Once they cut me and I was like, ‘Man, I’ve I got to figure some shit out,’ because before before that, I was making like $200 every two weeks,” Rohskopf told MMA Junkie. “I didn’t have my own apartment. I was living in Robert Drysdale’s pool house. I was just struggling to make it, just training every day, just waiting until I could start making some real money and change my life forever.

“I felt like before they cut me, even though it didn’t go the way I wanted, I thought I was close to somewhat changing my life, but then they cut me. I’m like, ‘All right, well, f*ck, I guess I got to start (over).’ Took some time, and I didn’t leave my room. I spent a lot of money on Postmates ordering food because I didn’t want to leave the house.”

Rohskopf’s was cut by the UFC after he lost his debut to Austin Hubbard, a fight that garnered much attention from the MMA world because of how it played out. After a successful opening round, Rohskopf absorbed a lot of damage in Round 2 and elected to retire to the stool before Round 3.

Seemingly everyone had an opinion about this – not just the trolls online but people in his everyday life, too. Rohskopf’s social media was flooded with comments. People from all over the world were bringing uninformed opinions to the table. He even received harassing phone calls from strangers.

“There were some people that I actually trained with that were saying stuff,” Rohskopf said. “I thought that was funny because they know better. The funniest one was someone was telling me to donate the money that I got paid, because I probably grew up like a rich kid and sh*t. I’m like, ‘Do your f*cking research,’ because I was f*cking dirt poor my whole life, and I still am. And so it’s like, ‘F*ck you, dude.’ I thought that that one was funny. I had people get my phone number actually and calling me and texting me and sh*t, too.”

The decision to delete his social media was not based on criticism. On multiple occasions prior, Rohskopf posted about his distaste for social media culture but partook to maintain his brand. After the loss, the opportunity arose to hit “delete” once and for all.

“Every time I posted something, it was to get attention,” Rohskopf said. “That’s everyone. Everyone who posts, whether it’s media or is a personal account, every time you post, it’s to get bullsh*t attention that’s really easy to get. It’s super easy to get that attention on the internet. I’m only concerned with with the people that have my number or I see daily.”

Over the past year, Rohskopf has reached a conclusion. From start to finish, his first UFC experience was what he deserved – nothing more, nothing less. It’s not as much a sore subject as it is a learning experience. The only part that stings is knowing some of those in his circle were caught in the crossfire. If there’s one thing Rohskopf wants people to know, it’s that there’s no one to blame for that but himself – not his coach, not his managers.

“I think I 100 percent deserved, at that time, to fight in the UFC and get into the UFC – but I also deserved the result that I got because of decisions I was making outside of fighting and outside the gym,” Rohskopf said. “I wasn’t necessarily ready at that point in time, but I 100 percent deserved to be there. I also deserved the result of it.”

Through the noise in the wake of his loss, there was a select group of individuals Rohskopf considers himself lucky to know. Those are the people who helped rekindle the fire of his MMA dreams. Those are the people Rohskopf speaks the world of.

“A lot of my life, even with wrestling, and now fighting, my identity has been wrestling, or my identity has been fighting,” Rohskopf said. “It’s like I haven’t had anything else to kind of (be). That’s been everything. After I didn’t get the results I wanted, I was disappointed in myself. I was like, ‘OK, if this is who I am, then this isn’t good.’ So it meant a lot for people around me to support me no matter what I was going to be doing.”

Included in that group is Chase Pami of Gold Rush Wrestling Club, who offered Rohskopf a coaching gig that segued into a combat sports return. That’s right, Rohskopf isn’t done. The fire is back burning. He’ll compete against Jeff Creighton at Cage Warriors 126 on Aug. 1 in San Diego.

The switch from “top prospect” to “not good enough” has actually been a welcomed one. To put it bluntly, Rohskopf isn’t afraid the public might think he “f*cking sucks.” Actually, he loves that.

The humbling mindset is the one that brought Rohskopf to the UFC. Somewhere along the way, being dubbed a top prospect and the next big thing, he entered unfamiliar territory.

“Up until the last two or three years, I never had anyone ever tell me I was talented or going to be good at something – ever,” Rohskopf said. “(Not in) junior high wrestling, in high school wrestling, in jiu-jitsu or in college wrestling, I’ve never been someone that people look at like, ‘Oh, he’s talented.’ But in the last two or three years, for whatever reason, people thought I was some kind of talented kid. That’s never been me, and that’s never been the reason why I’ve had any amount of success at all. It’s always been a little bit more an underdog, ‘f*ck you,’ hard-working attitude, and I think I lost a little bit. It feels good to kind of feel like I have that back.

“… (I’d like to) just let people think the worst of me. I like that a little bit more than people thinking I’m this or people thinking I’m all that. I’d rather people think I f*cking suck and then take it from that angle, I guess. I’m never going to come out and make excuses for that because it’s on me – no one else but me.”

Retiring on the stool is a fairly uncommon practice at the UFC level. If Rohskopf, who was exhausted and damaged, went out and got knocked out in the third round, there’s a chance he’d still be on the UFC roster. Is the stigma pertaining to retirements an unfair one? Rohskopf isn’t sure.

“I don’t think that’s for me to say,” Rohskopf said. “I don’t know. I think that it needed to happen for me. Regardless if it was the right decision or the wrong decision, I needed to do that because if for whatever reason I go out there and it goes to a decision or I get caught or whatever, I don’t think I would have looked at things the same way as I do now. I’m grateful for how everything has played out so far.”

From a technical standpoint, Rohskopf recognizes that adjustments can be made. His training regimen could improve, and he hopes to limit burning himself out, which has been a bad habit throughout his athletic career.

Many MMA observers might think the Max Rohskopf story will be of a prospect who stayed seated on a stool. Roskopf didn’t commit to a different climax of the tale. He doesn’t want to fall into the trap of getting ahead of himself. Regardless of where he ends up, he’s playing with house money and is excited to find out how much he can run up the score.

“Anyone who knows me from growing up or from wrestling in high school and college knows that everything I do up until this point is stuff I shouldn’t have been doing in the first place,” Rohskopf said. “I think I’m lucky to have gone as far as I’ve gone so far. Everything else from here on out, icing on the cake.”