Luke
Rockhold is well aware of the narrative that seems to have
propelled Alex
Pereira into a middleweight title shot after just three
Ultimate Fighting Championship appearances.
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Pereira appears to be next in line to face Israel
Adesanya following a first-round knockout against Sean
Strickland on the UFC 276 main card last weekend. The former
Glory two-division champion owns a pair of victories against
Adesanya in professional kickboxing, which has made him an
interesting challenger for the middleweight throne. Rockhold gets
it, but he isn’t overly impressed by Pereira.
“Yeah, it’s an intriguing story, Alex Pereira has beat Izzy twice,”
Rockhold told Submission Radio.
“And so you’re looking at any level of intrigue, and so they’re
looking for someone that they can throw in the mix, even though
Alex
Pereira would get mauled by, 20 guys in the UFC would probably
maul him. But yeah, it’s a compelling story if you get him past a
brawler like Sean
Strickland. So, they did it, and it’s up and going. So, it’s my
job to go f—-ing deter that.”
A former middleweight champion himself, the 37-year-old Rockhold is
set to make his first Octagon appearance since July 2019 when he
faces Paulo Costa
at UFC 278 in Salt Lake City on Aug. 20. It’s a fight that Rockhold
believes could propel him into the championship discussion.
“Anything is possible with this fight and in this fight,” Rockhold
said. “I mean, Marvin
Vettori is the No. 1 guy in the world, right? Or [Robert]
Whittaker? Paulo’s only been smoked by Izzy. Vettori barely, he
didn’t do anything great against him last time. So, if I can go out
there and smoke him, it’s gonna tell.”
And if he can author an impressive showing against Costa, Rockhold
is confident he has what it takes to defeat Adesanya, who hasn’t
lost a fight at middleweight in his career.
“I know how to fight Izzy. It’s a straightforward fight. He’s a
tough fight, man. He’s a big puzzle,” Rockhold said. “He’s the most
complicated puzzle there is at middleweight that there’s been for a
long time. So, it’s going to be interesting. But I think with the
right game, that’s my fight.
“We were talking the other night and I think the hardest fight for
me right now is Whittaker. But if I play the right game with many
of these guys, it’s my fight. So, I just gotta be level-headed and
focused and f——ing go out there and do my thing.”