We’re in the age of superfights and wild matchmaking in the UFC and Luke Rockhold wants a piece of the action. The former middleweight champion says he’s interested in taking on former heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum.
“I think me and Werdum got some old beef from Strikeforce. He’s a guy I’ve always wanted to fight. I’ve thought it through and I like the style matchup,” Rockhold said Wednesday night during an appearance on UFC Tonight. “Given what’s going on in the middleweight division right now, screw that, I’m coming to heavyweight. Let’s do this.”
Rockhold hasn’t fought since being knocked out by Michael Bisping and losing his title at UFC 199 in June. Bisping is scheduled to defend his title against Georges St-Pierre later this year and with Dana White saying Yoel Romero is next up in the growing line of contenders it leaves Rockhold in an interesting spot. He was scheduled to fight Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza in November but withdrew from the bout with a knee injury.
Souza was re-booked against Robert Whittaker, Chris Weidman and Gegard Mousasi meet next month at UFC 210, Anderson Silva has been paired off with Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 212, Derek Brunson is expected to fight Dan Kelly in New Zealand, Krzysztof Jotko is welcoming David Branch back to the UFC and Vitor Belfort isn’t interested in fighting a top-ranked fighter like Rockhold.
That is to say there is literally no top-10 middleweight available for Rockhold (15-3) to fight at the moment, thus he is exploring other options.
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“I don’t know if I’ll dance around too long [in the heavyweight division],” Rockhold added. “It’s a fight I really want and I think it makes a lot of sense. We can settle that. They’re into making money fights right? They want to make a money fight, sell some tickets. Let’s do this thing.”
Rockhold is six-foot-three and competes in the 185-pound division, however the 32-year-old is bigger than many light-heavyweight fighters. When he’s not cutting weight or preparing for a middleweight bout he walks around in the 220-pound range.
Werdum, 39, stands six-foot-four and is usually between 230-240 pounds when he steps into the Octagon. Prior to his most recent fight—a unanimous decision victory over Travis Browne at UFC 203 in September—Werdum weighed in at 239.5 pounds.
So, it’s not like the American will be dwarfed by the Brazilian if the two were to meet. According to their UFC fighter profiles, both men have an identical 77-inch arm reach and 45-inch leg reach.
It’s unclear at this time if the UFC would, or is, considering this as a potential matchup but regardless, Werdum (21-6-1) doesn’t seem all that intrigued at the idea.
“I only fight people, I don’t fight chickens,” Werdum told MMA Fighting Thursday in response to Rockhold’s challenge. “He’s just promoting himself because he knows nobody is talking about him. I’m one step away from the belt. Why would I fight a chicken?”