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Luke Rockhold is one of the veterans in the UFC. The former middleweight champion last entered inside the octagon back in 2019 where he faced the former light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz. He is now set to return to the octagon against a tough opponent in Paulo Costa. Costa last fought Marvin Vettori and tasted defeat after the bout was moved to 205 pounds. Both the fighters will be looking for the win as they both are coming back from back to back losses.
Former middleweight champion of the UFC and Strikeforce, Luke Rockhold, has recently struggled He has gone one and three in his last four fights, has battled injuries for years and even took a long break from the sport to heal. After a two-year hiatus, the 37 year old was slated to compete at UFC 268 on November 6, 2021, against middleweight Sean Strickland. But Rockhold withdrew on October 11 because of a herniated disc.
Now he faces a stern test ahead of UFC 278. His opponent has also a history with weight issues. He failed to make weight the last time he fought Marvin Vettori. Dana White also suggested that Paulo Costa should move to the light heavyweight division however the Brazilian sees his future in the middleweight division for now.
Rockhold has also a history of having opponents who failed to make weight. Yoel Romero was supposed to challenge Rockhold for the interim middleweight title at UFC 221 but Romero's weight ended up being off by over three pounds. Rockhold accepted the fight but was brutally knocked out in round three. Rockhold is vary that if any similar situation arises he will have to decline the fight.
Recently, Luke Rockhold gave out his thoughts on the UFC bonus structure and it is safe to say that he was not a fan of the current amounts which are being handed to the fighters as bonuses.
At the moment, the UFC gives away two $50k bonuses for POTN and two $50k bonuses for FOTN.
The business occasionally decides to award additional bonuses. Due to UFC events consistently selling out the gate and keeping the same profit margins, this has been happening more recently. However, considering that bonuses have historically lost value, Luke Rockhold thinks the UFC's payout structure is ludicrous.
While speaking to MMA fighting Rockhold stated ““F*****g $50,000 bonuses going on for two decades. Like, what the f**l?” “The valuation of the company’s going up f*****g billions of dollars and we’re still stuck on $50,000 bonus checks? What the f**k is this? People need to wake up.”
The 37 year old has urged other fighters to finally demand for what they think is fair. He thinks nothing will happen until people start speaking on this matter. He also thinks that bonus should be raised to $100k.
The company, everything should grow, we should grow together. That’s how a healthy business works. When you build an unhealthy business, it just takes enough time for the f*****g egg to crack and enough people to grow an f*****g sack. Too bad there’s not enough of us who have a sack.”
Many of the fighters have been raising their voices related to the pay structure and the bonuses handed out to the fighters. Rockhold has been the latest one to put his two cents in this situation. He faces a tough test ahead of his long awaited return against Paulo Costa. What do you guys think of the comments made by the former middle weight champion? Let us know your views in the comments.
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