Luke Rockhold is completed hating on Alex Pereira.
As soon as upon a time, Rockhold was the UFC middleweight champion and thought of to be the most effective fighters on the planet. And even after dropping his title and ending his MMA profession on a dreadful run of 1 win over his remaining 5 fights, Rockhold by no means misplaced the boldness that obtained him to the highest of the game, together with his resolute perception that Pereira represented “a free belt” ought to they ever combat.
Nicely, no extra of that discuss from Rockhold.
Earlier this month, “Poatan” reclaimed the UFC mild heavyweight title with a first-round demolition of Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 320. The win not solely returned Pereira to champion standing nevertheless it additionally, lastly earned Rockhold’s respect.
“I used to hate on Alex Pereira, however motherf*cker’s a gangster,” Rockhold advised TMZ Sports activities. “It’s all about confidence. It’s all about balls. He has it. He f*cking has it. I’m not going to lie. I can’t hate on the motherf*cker anymore. He’s one of many GOATs.”
“He carries the identical mindset each f*cking time. He doesn’t have a floor sport, however the motherf*cker’s obtained balls. No extra hate. Alex, God bless. You’re a gangster. He’s the most effective champs of all time. Truthfully, it’s spectacular.”
Rockhold’s preliminary beef with Pereira got here again on the finish of Rockhold’s profession, proper when Pereira’s was taking off. Again in 2022, Rockhold has simply retired from MMA, whereas Pereira was about to problem Israel Adesanya for the middleweight title. Since then, Pereira has grow to be a two-division champion, and now a two-time mild heavyweight champion, all in only a few years time.
And whereas Rockhold’s time on the prime was short-lived, he foresees a lot extra for Poatan on the peak of the game.
“Alex — there are people who find themselves born to combat perpetually,” Rockhold mentioned. “Once I reached the highest, after I was Strikeforce champ after which I lastly obtained the UFC champ, it was like, ‘What’s subsequent?’ There’s at all times one thing extra. Then there’s a man like Alex. He’s only a f*cking, he appears just like the nastiest f*cking man within the UFC.”
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Rockhold is destined to be a forgotten UFC champion as a result of he had one of many shortest reigns ever and instantly fell off a cliff, however man, at his peak he actually was a monster. To at the present time I believe he had a few of the most terrifying prime management I’ve ever seen within the sport.
However yeah, Rockhold’s kryptonite was a left hand being thrown laborious at his head. A combat between him and Pereira may solely ever have ended a technique.
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