Luke Rockhold has opened up about some of the reasons why he is hostile to UFC President Dana White.
The former Strikeforce and UFC middleweight champion recently retired from the sport and had a memorable performance despite losing to Paul Costa at UFC 278 last weekend.
The 37-year-old, who has been competing in the Octagon for nearly a decade and appeared on the MMA Hour, tells Ariel Helwani why he feels so bad about the way he’s been treated over the years dissatisfied.
‘Why do you think I’m mad at Dana? Because Dana never gave me a chance. He never gave me a fucking chance from the moment I got into the UFC. He signed me off. There’s never been any emphasis on my years at Strikeforce or anything I’ve done in victory. Only my loss,” Luke Rockhold explained.
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” Dana White controls the narrative of public perception. Like, he fucked me from the beginning, and it took me 16, 17 years to come back and fight like this to earn my respect. Nothing I’ve done in the past has mattered until now. All right. That’s why I sometimes feel this way. That’s why I say what I say. You have to understand the power you have in that situation. The narrative you create. The public believes what they want to believe, and what you tell them to believe,” the Californian added.
Why he Angry at Dana. #TheMMAHour pic.twitter.com/WH9XrDDSyf
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) August 24, 2022
Luke Rockhold made his UFC debut in Brazil in 2013, where he was knocked out against Vitor Belfort. The lockout was awarded the knockout of the year, and Rockhold was very impressed with his performance in the organization. Not happy to get such a match on the first outing.
“They made me fight Vitol (Belfort) in fuBrazil,” he explained. The reigning Strikeforce champ came out there, “you’re not done “.
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“When they knew what they were doing, I had to go Fight Vitor. Protect him. That sissy got squeezed into the gills. I had to get swept up by him, knocked down and demeaned by everyone, and picked up again. [But] I’m pretty good at picking myself up again,” Luke Rockhold continued. Performance bonus. Rockhold won the UFC middleweight title when he knocked out Chris Weidman in the fourth round of UFC 194.
Do you think Luke Rockhold was Is Dana White and the UFC’s harsh treatment?
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This article was first published on BJPENN.COM
