Luke Rockhold: ‘I'll never close the door’ on MMA

At UFC 278 last month, Luke Rockhold was involved in a brutal battle on his return to the octagon with the #6 ranked middleweight Paulo Costa. Rockhold went all-out war against Costa during which he struggled with shortness of breathing due to nose bleeding. But still, he managed to take Costa to the limit and lost via unanimous decision.

Rockhold was very emotional after the loss as he didn’t expect such love and support from the fans. For the love of sport, He pushed himself for another run after a long three-year gap due to injuries and some personal issues. In a post-fight interview with Joe Rogan, he eventually announced his retirement from the ring. Former teammate and now UFC analyst, Daniel Cormier compared Luke Rockhold's final farewell to a fairytale conclusion.

The former UFC and Strikeforce middleweight champion is retired for now, but he has left the door open for a return but only under limited circumstances. In a video posted to Instagram, Luke Rockhold provided an update on his career. The 37-year-old described his desire to restore his body and his sincere desire to retire there. However, a side of Rockhold’s heart is aware that he might come back in the future and will never totally rule out competing.

“Sometimes I struggle back and forth thinking how I want to approach this, but too many people hide behind their words, not how they really feel,” Rockhold said on Instagram Friday. “But, I want to retire. I want to work on life like I did a f*cking fraction of on my break, but I want to get my f*cking body together, get my health together. Health is wealth, ultimately, and my body is f*cking deteriorating and a fight doesn’t help that.

“So, I want to get my body back, but I’ll never close the door (on MMA). Once I get my health fully back, and I get my body where I want, and I start performing and not hurting myself, (then) maybe, maybe, maybe, I’ll make another run at this thing – one, two, three years down the line. I honestly feel like I’m only getting better. The way I’m treating my body and changing the game.”

The former middleweight champion spoke bluntly about leading a healthier lifestyle and using mushrooms as his major sources of encouragement before making a comeback. Rockhold ought to be regarded as one of the greatest middleweights of his time despite the less-than-stellar conclusion to his career. He put on some virtuoso performances in the octagon and seemed invulnerable from 2014 to 2015. Undoubtedly, his dominance of Chris Weidman is the most notable.

The veteran's career has been troubled by injuries for the past few years. The former UFC middleweight champion could fight again in the future if he can maintain his health and work ethic.