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Former UFC champion Luke Rockhold is optimistic about his prospects against the reigning middleweight champion Alex Pereira.
Rockhold was there at UFC Fight Night 221, which took place this past weekend at The Theater at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas. During an interview there, the Californian gave some information about his future.
The legendary middleweight left open the possibility of returning to mixed martial arts, despite his present focus being on endeavours outside the ring. Should he continue to be physically fit, Rockhold asserts that he is more than capable of competing against the best of them. And that includes Alex Pereira, the middleweight champion of the UFC.
"Do I still think I could compete at the top? With a healthy body and a good training camp, yeah. I think I could beat Pereira, easy. I'm sure," Rockhold said.
"Do I wanna go through that process of getting up to him? Not quite yet. I took three years off and did nothing. Just getting back to the Paulo Costa fight was a lot for me. Now I'm continuing to train. That was like, my base point. Now I'm getting better."
Next month at UFC 287, Pereira will face Israel Adesanya again in an attempt to make his first championship defence. A few weeks later, Rockhold will be fighting.
The 38-year-old Californian will debut in the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship on April 29. In the BKFC 41 main event, he will square off against Mike Perry, another former UFC fighter.
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