Luke Rockhold Warns Chris Weidman: ‘I’m Going To Put You On Your A**’

“I’m wearing black because I’m going to Conor’s funeral.”

Luke Rockhold was in bullish mood this past Saturday at UFC 229; little did he know he would be called into action later on in the evening to break up the chaos that ensued in the Octagon after the main event.

The former UFC middleweight champion was in Las Vegas supporting his teammate Khabib Nurmagomedov. Midway through the evening, Rockhold spoke to reporters backstage about his upcoming fight at UFC 230 on Nov. 3 where he will take on Chris Weidman in New York.

“It’s a number one contender fight at Madison Square Garden,” Rockhold said. “It’s east coast vs west coast and it’s one where you want to shut up and leave no doubt. Chris is the man, he beat Kelvin Gastelum and he proved himself and he’s still there.

“He beat Kelvin and he’s the hottest fighter. Chris put him away in devastating fashion so if I go out and put Chris away, it says something. It speaks for itself.”

Weidman and Rockhold first clashed back in Dec. 2015 at UFC 194. Rockhold ended up capturing the UFC middleweight title after finishing Weidman in the fourth round and putting a temporary end to their bitter feud. When asked if the rivalry would be as intense the second time around, Rockhold said he’d have to wait and see on fight week.

“You never know until you’re there,” Rockhold said. “I feel good about it. I’m just going to go out there and do my job. Like I said, this is business man. I’m going to go forward and do what I have to do to win this fight. This is an interesting fight.

“We will see where his head is at this time around. I don’t expect him to be like that. We both know each other very well now. We’re going to fight. I’m looking forward to it and I’m going to put it on him. I’m not backing up, I’m moving forward and I’m going to put him on his ass.”

Whilst the rivalry dynamics might be different, Rockhold says the result will remain the same.

“I see this fight a lot in my head, over and over,” Rockhold said. “It’s hard for me seeing him get past the second round.

“I’m going to go out there and show who is the better fighter. I had staph, I was on antibiotics. This is different, I’m healthy, I’m going to go forward and I’m going to handle this thing.”

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