Luke
Rockhold’s comeback fight will have to wait.
The former middleweight champion announced Monday on his Instagram
story that a herniated disc in his back has forced him to withdraw
from a proposed clash against Sean
Strickland at
UFC 268.
“There’s no easy way to really say it, but the fight is off in New
York,” Rockhold said. “I ended up herniating a disc in my back. L4,
L5. The docs say it’s nothing I can play with. I need to do some
treatment and recovery time. Some things just aren’t meant to be.
New York, motherf—-ing New York. I’m sorry to the friends and the
peeps and everyone, but we’ll be back. Until next time.”
Rockhold hasn’t competed since a second-round knockout loss to
Jan
Blachowicz in a light heavyweight bout at UFC 239 in July 2019.
He was planning to return to 185 pounds for his clash against
Strickland at Madison Square Garden in New York on Nov. 6. It’s
unclear at this time if Strickland will remain on the card against
a replacement opponent. UFC 268 is headlined by a welterweight
championship rematch between Kamaru
Usman and Colby
Covington.
Rockhold, who is also a former Strikeforce title holder, has lost
three of his last four UFC appearances dating back to June
2016.