Luke Rockhold on UFC release: 'I asked for my freedom'

Field Level Media
24 Jan 2023, 07:25 GMT+10

Former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold said that the promotion has granted his release.

Rockhold told SB Nation's "The MMA Hour" on Monday that he had requested a release from his UFC contract, which had multiple fights still remaining.

"Me and Dana (White) always haven't seen eye to eye, and we've had our differences, but I've been through some injuries and some things, and I've done my thing," Rockhold said. "I asked for a release. I asked for my freedom to be able to go and do things elsewhere, and I was granted that.

"I've paid my dues, and (UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell) granted me my wish to be able to go have freedom, to be able to box, to go fight elsewhere. There's a lot of different avenues. You've seen what Nate Diaz and Francis (Ngannou) are doing. There's interesting, innovative companies coming up, and there's a lot of things to correct in this world."

Rockhold (16-6 MMA, 6-5 UFC) ended his tenure with UFC with three straight losses. His most recent outing was a unanimous-decision defeat to Paulo Costa at UFC 278 on Aug. 20 in Salt Lake City.

The 38-year-old California native won the UFC middleweight belt with a TKO of Chris Weidman back in December 2015, but he lost the title to Michael Bisping in his next time out.

Rockhold said he is looking at a number of options, including the Professional Fighters League (PFL), Bellator, ONE Championship and boxing.

--Field Level Media

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