‘I Can Fight Wherever I Want!’

Luke Rockhold will keep fighting.

UFC 278 in Aug. 2022 looked to be the end of Rockhold’s professional fighting career. After his thrilling unanimous decision loss to Paulo Costa (watch highlights), Rockhold retired on the microphone when speaking with Joe Rogan. A few short months later, however, the former Middleweight champion requested and received his release from the promotion and went on to compete in bare-knuckle boxing (BKB).

Unfortunately for Rockhold, he came up short in his BKB debut at BKFC 41 against Mike Perry in April 2023. Suffering a broken tooth in round two, Rockhold lost via technical knockout (watch highlights), which resulted in the conclusion of his one-fight deal with BKFC. Now, Rockhold, 38, may be looking to take his skillset to the pit for another unique striking-only martial art.

“It’s the best,” Rockhold told Cageside Press of his free agency. “You get the best of all worlds. I can fight wherever I want and whatever appeals to me the most is where I’m gonna go. The opponent, the stage, the situation, and of course, the payday. But this (Karate Combat) is looking good.

“We talked, you never know,” he added. “Talk is talk. Talk is talk, but I like to walk the walk. We’re talking. We’re not walking yet, but maybe we can get to run soon. We’re setting kick records, you know what I mean? Coming off the couch. Easy.”

Rockhold was seen on video during the Karate Combat fight week this past week kicking the power-tracking kick-pad. Known for his great kicks, Rockhold’s foray into a punches-only fight against Perry left a lot of fans scratching their heads. While he does have options aplenty, it’s safe to assume that no matter what Rockhold does next in combat sports, it will involve putting the gloves back on.