‘I’m Sorry’: Luke Rockhold Out Of UFC 268 Vs. Sean Strickland
Fans will have to wait a little longer to see former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold’s return.
Rockhold (16-5) announced his comeback against Sean Strickland (24-3), but he was forced to pull out from the bout due to injuries.
“There’s no easy way to really say it, but the fight is off in New York,” Rockhold said. “I ended up herniating a disc in my back. L4, L5. The docs say it’s nothing I can play with. I need to do some treatment and recovery time. Some things just aren’t meant to be.”
In his previous four contests, Rockhold witnessed three brutal KO losses.
In 2016, he was dethroned by Michael Bisping in their rematch. After being defeated, he earned one victory against David Branch, but Yoel Romero and Jan Blachowicz served him two brutal knockout losses in a row.
Since 2019, Rockhold wasn’t fighting, but in 2021 he tried to fight several times.
He was supposed to face the newly risen star of UFC Khamzat Chimaev, but that didn’t happen. The UFC finally scheduled a middleweight bout between Rockhold and Strickland after several offers and negotiation failures.
It was a highly anticipated matchup. It’s unclear if the UFC will find another rival for Strickland or reschedule the bout between these two athletes. This bout was supposed to be held at UFC 268.
The headliner will be a welterweight title rematch between Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington. There will be another title rematch in the women’s strawweight division between Rose Namajunas and Weili Zhang.
“I’m sorry to the friends and the peeps and everyone, but we’ll be back. Until next time,” he said.
Here’s the rest of the card:
- Kamaru Usman vs. Colby Covington 170 lbs
- Rose Namajunas vs. Weili Zhang 115 lbs
- Justin Gaethje vs. Michael Chandler 155 lbs
- Frankie Edgar vs. Marlon Vera 135 lbs
- A. Michailidis vs. Alex Pereira 185 lbs
- Al Iaquinta vs. Bobby Green 155 lbs
- Shane Burgos vs. Billy Quarantillo 145 lbs
- Edmen Shahbazyan vs. N. Imavov 185 lbs
- C.J. Vergara vs. Ode Osbourne 125 lbs
- Jordan Williams vs. Ian Garry 170 lbs
- Gian Villante vs. Chris Barnett 265 lbs