Former UFC Middleweight Champion Luke Rockhold Believes That He Has What it Takes to Inflict Jon Jones’s First (Real) Octagon Defeat… 

Let’s forget about the asterisk for a minute. Now that Demetrious Johnson has left the UFC, Jon Jones is the most dominant active champion in the UFC. He’s the four-time UFC light-heavyweight champion and has never been beaten in a title fight. His only defeat came via disqualification against Matt Hammill, for an illegal elbow.

After dominating Alexander Gustafsson in a highly anticipated rematch, Jones basically defeated the best of the rest at 205. He dissected Anthony Smith back in March. ‘Lionheart’ was game but just not good enough to threaten the man widely regarded as the greatest of all time.

Now Luke Rockhold has come out and said that he believes that he will be the man to beat Jones. All we can say is that the former middleweight champion should keep taking his medicine.

Mandatory Credit: USA TODAY Sports.

Delusional?

There was a time when Luke Rockhold looked like he was going to be an absolute monster, but his recent decline since getting knocked out by Michael Bisping has been something to behold. While he is a physical specimen, his chin is made of glass and he holds it way too high. However, he is set to fight Poland’s Jan Blachowicz at UFC 239 in July and sees that as his opportunity to stake a claim for the title.

“Thiago Santos just got a world title fight after beating Jan Blachowicz, so I figure if I go out there and put a performance on him, what’s to deny me?” Rockhold said on a recent episode of Submission Radio (transcript via MMA Weekly). “I mean, what else is there? These guys are scouring around, not taking fights. So I’m gonna go out there and I’m gonna perform and do my job, and then I’m gonna let the chips fall where they may.”

Jon Jones fights Daniel Cormier. Mandatory Credit: Gary Vasquez, USA TODAY Sports.

Dream Fight

The former 185lb king would love to take on Jones. He insists that he knows his style and would be well able to take on the Jackson-Wink fighter. We’re not so sure about that.

“I’d jump on (a fight with Jones) in a heartbeat,” he said. “I’ve been training as Jon Jones for (teammate Daniel Cormier) for so many years and I know his style, and like what we have here. So I’m gonna go focus on what I’m doing here this summer and if everything works out, me and Jon will be dancing later this year or 2020.”

Dec 29, 2018; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Jon Jones (red gloves) fights Alexander Gustafsson (blue gloves) during UFC 232 at The Forum. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez, USA TODAY Sports.

Focus

First of all, Rockhold has to regain his focus and get off to a positive start against Blachowicz. With his size, the move up to light-heavyweight could reignite his career because he is a very big guy. Will that chin be able to stand up to even stronger shots?

That’s something we’re going to find out very soon. Jones v Rockhold is definitely a more exciting fight than Jones v almost anybody else at light-heavyweight right now. It’s too early for Johnny Walker and Dominic Reyes. For his part, Jones takes on Thiago Santos in July as well. Does anybody give the Brazilian a chance?

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