It was disappointing to see Luke Rockhold lose to Paulo Costa in a blood-and-guts battle, indicating that he has had enough of fighting.
Luke Rockhold may not have had the gas tank to help him win Saturday in Salt Lake City, but he certainly had the heart to win.
At the UFC 278 middleweight co-main event, Luke Rockhold (16-6 MMA, 6-5 UFC) lost to Paulo Costa (14-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) by a unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) by a score of 30-27, 30-27, 30-27.
The fight was filled with blood and guts, and each man’s heart was on display as well. According to him, this would probably be his last fight after Paulo Costa was declared the winner of the fight.
The UFC 278 Results Are In And Luke Rockhold Loses His Blood And Guts Fight With Paulo Costa, Indicating He Is Done Fighting For Now
The tears flowed from Rockhold’s eyes as he said, “I have been through so much over the last few years.”. In his words, he said, “Thank you, fighting.”. Thank you, UFC. Joe (Rogan): I appreciate you so much.
There is no way I can do this anymore. As far as I was concerned, it was all I could do. However, the truth is that I did not… The fact that I am so old makes me feel old.”
The 37-year-old Rockhold hadn’t competed in about three years and he hadn’t won a title in about five years. If UFC 278 turns out to be his final fight, then he will have lost four of his last five fights.
The American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) was founded by former UFC and Strikeforce champion Rockhold in the year 2000.
His notable victories include Chris Weidman, Lyoto Machida, Michael Bisping, and Ronaldo Souza among others.
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Rockhold was openly critical of the UFC’s fighter pay and health care system when he entered UFC 278. Dana White, the president of the UFC, later described the complaints as gibberish.
As soon as Costa entered the fight, he struck hard with some big punches before he was able to secure a takedown.
It was evident that he had been exhausted and was bleeding profusely when he finally got to his feet.
In spite of Rockhold’s heavy breathing in and out of his mouth, he managed to pull off successful combinations of single strikes despite his heavy breathing.
The first round of the fight ended with Rockhold kneeling and placing his hands on his knees at the end of the round.
Rockhold came out guns blazing in the second round of the fight. Despite the fact that he found some success with his body kicks, he was able to improve his accuracy even though the volume of his kicks decreased.
A low blow by Costa briefly halted the action when he delivered a low blow. While Rockhold used about 90 seconds of the allotted five minutes, he was able to catch some of the highlights of his win in that short period of time.
The third round of the tournament was a tough one for Rockhold. As he was on the verge of exhaustion, he still managed to scream expletives at Costa before landing the most crushing blow in his arsenal.
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It was a wobbly takedown that led to Rockhold reversing positions after Costa scored a takedown.
As a result of the fight, both of the men bleed profusely, a fact that is magnified by Rockhold smearing blood all over Costa’s face.
Immediately following the end of the fight, the crowd erupted in cheers.
In spite of the fact that this is Costa’s third win in the last three years, it is his first win in three years.
Prior to his entry into UFC 278, he had suffered back-to-back losses to Israel Adesanya and Marvin Vettori.
Rockhold’s win was his first in three years, and it marked the end of a three-fight losing streak for him.
In September 2017, he was able to defeat David Branch by TKO to achieve his most recent victory.
In the five years since then, he has lost four of his five appearances, each of them being a knockout loss.