UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold has shared his animosity towards UFC president Dana White on “The MMA Hour” on Wednesday.
While he was in an interview with Ariel Helwani, Rockhold initially discussed his bout with Paulo Costa, only to quickly changed the conversation topic and threw jabs at White. Rockhold has been known to be critical of White and the UFC for various reasons, including fighter pay and his own perceived disrespect he received from White.
“You gotta go out on your sword right? Or your shield, whatever they say. I’m just here to fight. People lose track of who I am, who I was, and what I’ve done. Everyone was like, ‘if you don’t need this and want this, what’s going to get you up in those moments?’ It’s f*cked up,” Rockhold said.
“Why do you think I was so mad at Dana [White]. It’s because Dana never gave me a chance. The moment I came to the UFC, he never gave me a f*cking chance.”
Rockhold joined the UFC in 2012 after spending several years in Strikeforce and has spent 10 years with the promotion. During his transition, he was the reigning champion of Strikeforce’s middleweight class, having earned the title with an upset over Ronaldo Souza.
He later defended it twice, winning against Keith Jardin and Tim Kennedy. According to Rockhold, none of the mattered to White.
“Wrote me off, never highlighted my years in Strikeforce or anything that I did, all the wins. Only my losses. Dana White controls the narrative of what the public perceives. And he f* me from the start, and it took me 16, 17 years to come back and give a fight like that, to earn my respect. Nothing I did in the past mattered until now,” he said.
Rockhold has recently retired from MMA after his last bout against Costa at UFC 278 last weekend.
Retire with respect
Despite of losing against Costa via unanimous decision, the 37-year-old Rockhold has been considered one of the most decorated middleweights of his generation. He is a multi-time champion who has held two of the most prestigious belts at 185 pounds throughout his 15-year career.
Regardless of Rockhold’s hostility towards White, the latter still praised the former after his retirement fight with Costa. White said he had “nothing but respect” for Rockhold.
“For both of them to dig as deep as they did and put on an absolute dogfight like they did, I’ve nothing but respect for both of them. Are they both a little nutty? Absolutely. But hey, nothing but respect,” White said.
Other than White, English sports analyst Michael Bisping has also congratulated Rockhold and wished him well in his retirement.
During Rockhold’s time with the UFC, he and Bisping were rivals. Both of them have fought twice, with Rockhold winning the first bout and Bisping knocking out Rockhold at UFC 199 in 2016 to win the middleweight title. Since that loss, Rockhold’s career has been considered declining as he only has ever won once before his retirement at UFC 278. Bisping said Rockhold’s retirement was emotional to watch.
“I wish you all the best in retirement, Luke. I really, really do mean that,” Bisping said on his YouTube channel.
“I know we had some back and forths over the years, but it was just competitive. Just rivals, sporting rivals. I’m sure if we met under different circumstances — in fact, I always said this — I’m sure we’d get along. We’ve got some mutual friends and Jason Parillo thinks the world of you as well. So congratulations in what you do.”
In the past few years, Bisping and Rockhold had been reported to work together. Bisping respects for what Rockhold has accomplished and who he was as a fighter.
“So Luke, whatever you’re going to do in retirement, mate, enjoy. You had a fantastic career. I think people still don’t give him the credit that he was due, but I do,” Bisping said.