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Misfits 22: The rise and fall of ex-UFC champion Luke Rockhold ahead of Darren Till clash
A decade ago, Luke Rockhold climbed to the top of the mountain when he became UFC middleweight champion.
His stoppage victory over Chris Weidman was overshadowed by Conor McGregor’s epic 13-second knockout win against Jose Aldo on the same night, but it still seemed like a star had been born.
But Rockhold lost his title just six months later and was never able to regain his belt in the years that followed.
He has since moved into bare knuckle fighting and will now make his boxing debut at Misfits 22 when he takes on another former UFC star, Darren Till, on Saturday night.
Rockhold has had a rollercoaster career and the 40-year-old will be hoping for one final high before walking away from combat sports.
Here, we take a look back at the rise and fall of the crossover superstar.
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Dominating the Strikeforce sceneMisfits Boxing
Rockhold started his MMA career in 2007 and suffered an early setback when he was knocked out in just his second fight.
He quickly dusted himself down and joined Strikeforce Challengers, a promotion he would go on to dominate.
After five successive wins, Rockhold got a shot at the Strikeforce middleweight title and took it with both hands as he outpointed Ronaldo Souza.
He defended his belt twice to move to 10-1, and it was time to make the jump to the UFC.
Disastrous UFC debut
If Rockhold was looking for a soft touch when he joined the UFC he certainly did not get it.
He was thrown in with Brazilian star Vitor Belfort who had his home crowd behind him, and it did not end well for Rockhold.
The American was knocked out inside three minutes after being caught by a spinning heel kick, before Belfort followed up with a barrage of punches.
Rockhold quickly learned the UFC was a different beast to Strikeforce and he was going to have to improve quickly to make it to the top.
The contender becomes a champion
Eight months on from the Belfort loss, Rockhold returned to stop Costas Philippou with a body kick as he won Knockout of the Night.
That win got him back on track, and he followed it up with three successive submission victories, a run which included forcing Britain’s Michael Bisping to tap out.
Four consecutive early finishes put Rockhold in position for a world title shot as he took on Anderson Silva’s conqueror, Chris Weidman, at UFC 194.
There was very little to separate the pair across the first three rounds, but Rockhold seized his moment in the fourth.
After gaining control on the ground, Rockhold delivered a number of heavy punches and the referee had seen enough.
At the age of 31, Rockhold was the middleweight king following a run of five stoppages on the bounce.
The Bisping rematch
Rockhold’s first clash with Weidman was awarded Fight of the Night and a rematch was scheduled for six months later in June 2016.
However, Weidman was forced to withdraw through injury and Michael Bisping stepped in on less than three weeks’ notice for a rematch with his old rival.
There was plenty of trash talk during fight week but Rockhold was a heavy favourite ahead of the bout. He had beaten Bisping before and had much longer to prepare so was expected to get the job done with something to spare.
But it all went horribly wrong.
In the opening round, Bisping wobbled Rockhold with a left hook, and then sent him down with a follow-up blow. Rockhold was in no position to continue and the fight was quickly waved off.
Just like that, Rockhold’s reign was over and Bisping was the first Brit ever to win a UFC title.
The end of the UFC road
Rockhold built considerable momentum during his early UFC days, but inactivity became a major problem after his loss to Bisping.
He spent over a year away from the Octagon before returning to beat David Branch. The following year he got his chance to get back into the title mix when he faced Yoel Romero for the interim middleweight belt.
Romero missed weight but the bout still went ahead. Rockhold may have wished it didn’t as he was subsequently knocked out in the third round.
It was almost 18 months before Rockhold was seen again, and he didn’t fare any better. In July 2019 he made his light-heavyweight debut and was stopped inside two rounds by Jan Blachowicz.
A three-year absence followed, with Rockhold finally making a comeback in 2022 to take on Paulo Costa.
He managed to go the distance but lost on points. His UFC career started with a loss to a Brazilian and ended in the same fashion.
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Bare knuckle beating
After moving on from the UFC, Rockhold made a shock move into bare knuckle fighting as he faced another ex-UFC contender, Mike Perry, in April 2023.
Much like his UFC debut, it proved to be a difficult night for Rockhold. He was stopped in the second round and has not returned to the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship since.
Now, two years on, he will lace up his boxing gloves for the first time to take on Darren Till.
The odds seem to be stacked against Rockhold, with Till already have two boxing wins to his name in 2025. He appears to be on the up, while Rockhold has struggled to build any momentum in his career in recent years.
But he is a former world champion, albeit in a different sport. Can he roll back the years to pull off the upset on Saturday night? Tune in to find out!
Misfits X Series 22 on Saturday only on DAZN PPV
Watch Darren Till vs. Luke Rockhold, Tony Ferguson vs Salt Papi and Dillon Danis, Joey Essex and more fight only on DAZN PPV, this Saturday night, August 30.
