After Lionheart and Marreta's success at LHW, I really wanna see Rockhold moving up already

[AimedWithV]

Yeah, I know...he will be KOd. Right?

Well, just check all the KO/TKO losses of Thiago Santos and Anthony Smith.
Their jaws and their striking defense is not better than Luke's.

On the other hand, Luke is probably bigger and stronger than those two, definitely more skilles in BJJ and wrestling, and more talented overall.

What do you think guys? Can he crack into top 3? Especially if Cormier moves up for good?

 

[scytheavatar]

Who will return to the octagon first: Cruz, Cain or Rockhold?

 

[AimedWithV]

Rockhold has atrocious boxing defense lmao, way worse than the two aforementioned guys.

Santos took power puncher Manuwa's best shots and didn't go down, and same with Smith against Volkan.

Rockhold meanwhile suffered his first professional loss at 205 by getting knocked out in the 1st round by some no name

Dude... what are you talking about? How is Thiago Santos' defense better? He got KOd by grappler not so long ago.
And in the same sentense you say that Santos TOOK Manuwa's best shots. So where's his defense? In the chin?

And you have absolutely NO IDEA what happened in his first fight, because you have never seen it. TKO=/= KO.

Do us all a favor. I understand that you're not exactly in an MMA world as of yet, but don't embarrass yourself with ignorance before learning something and actually watching fights.

 

[kibz]

I think him vs Santos would be an interesting matchup....
Unless I’ve forgotten who (besides Yoel), I can’t remember him facing a harder puncher than Santos. I’d like to see how he reacts. Santos does get sloppy attempting to attack while retreating....like he’ll get hit with a big shot then run away trying to do some spinning shit. I’d like to see if Luke can capitalize on that.

I think Luke would beat Smith via experience and craftiness.

 

[AssassinFacedBaby]

Dude... what are you talking about? How is Thiago Santos' defense better? He got KOd by grappler not so long ago.
And in the same sentense you say that Santos TOOK Manuwa's best shots. So where's his defense? In the chin?

And you have absolutely NO IDEA what happened in his first fight, because you have never seen it. TKO=/= KO.

Do us all a favor. I understand that you're not exactly in an MMA world as of yet, but don't embarrass yourself with ignorance before learning something and actually watching fights.

A white belt on Sherdog doesn’t mean they’re new to mma mate, don’t take it too personal

 

[HaulParris]

I think Luke, Yoel, Weidman, Brunson, and Jacare, could all have success at LHW.

 

[AimedWithV]

I think him vs Santos would be an interesting matchup....
Unless I’ve forgotten who (besides Yoel), I can’t remember him facing a harder puncher than Santos. I’d like to see how he reacts. Santos does get sloppy attempting to attack while retreating....like he’ll get hit with a big shot then run away trying to do some spinning shit. I’d like to see if Luke can capitalize on that.

I think Luke would beat Smith via experience and craftiness.

I think he'll sub them both.

Giving that Branch knocked Santos out, and couldn't do the same to Luke for the whole round, I'd say that he would outclass Santos on the feet as well.

I'm not really interested in former MW vs former MW fights. For me it's more interesting how Luke handles guys like Blachowicz, or Gustafsson

 

[AimedWithV]

A white belt on Sherdog doesn’t mean they’re new to mma mate, don’t take it too personal

I know it's not default. I actually read the message first.
Simply him being a guy who literally signed up today perfectly correlates with his stupid POV

 

[Dillashaw's Monkey Kick]

Huge Rockhold fan, he seems to have all the skills, but not the drive. Probably he would do better at 205, not many top 10 fighters are knockout artists there and definitely most of them are less skilled tan Rockhold. If his chin holds up at 205, he should be a force to be reckoned with

 

[AimedWithV]

I think Luke, Yoel, Weidman, Brunson, and Jacare, could all have success at LHW.

Probably the MW invasion can get even further...

 

[AimedWithV]

Huge Rockhold fan, he seems to have all the skills, but not the drive. Probably he would do better at 205, not many top 10 fighters are knockout artists there and definitely most of them are less skilled tan Rockhold. If his chin holds up at 205, he should be a force to be reckoned with

I actually think that Santos and Smith don't have much better chins than Rockhold...

 

[Dillashaw's Monkey Kick]

I actually think that Santos and Smith don't have much better chins than Rockhold...

Probably not, but they sure have more of a fighters mentality and are way more involved tan Rockhold in the fight game. Not saying Luke is one for quitting, but he doesn't have the motivation to sustain prolonged punishment whereas Lionheart and Marreta probably have no other choice

 

[AimedWithV]

Probably not, but they sure have more of a fighters mentality and are way more involved tan Rockhold in the fight game. Not saying Luke is one for quitting, but he doesn't have the motivation to sustain prolonged punishment whereas Lionheart and Marreta probably have no other choice

Are you sure?
I don't see it really. I saw all 3 of them crumble under punishment, and I saw all three of them banging.

I think that all of them have pretty crappy defense. And in Luke's case it's something habitual - his low hands' stance is something irritating.

 

[Warehouse]

I'd be curious in seeing how he performs at 205 as well, and he wouldn't have much to lose by moving up considering how adrift he's been lately at middleweight. He showed interest in a potential fight against Gustafsson not too long ago and if Luke is able to renew his focus and absorb damage better by cutting less weight, then that could be one hell of a spectacle.

 

[AimedWithV]

and absorb damage better by cutting less weight

Yep!
That might be a key here actually.

And can explain why David Branch KTFOs Marreta at MW, but then he moves up and eats Manuwa's punches as a snack.

 

[Warehouse]

Yep!
That might be a key here actually.

And can explain why David Branch KTFOs Marreta at MW, but then he moves up and eats Manuwa's punches as a snack.

Although it might be unrelated and may not make any difference, another reason I'd like to for him to move to 205 is to see if it decreases the likelihood of getting injured during a training camp. He's been hindered by leg injuries and had to pull out of a few fights because of it, so if he's not as depleted while training it might help minimize the chances of that happening again.

 

[AimedWithV]

Although it might be unrelated and may not make any difference, another reason I'd like to for him to move to 205 is to see if it decreases the likelihood of getting injured during a training camp. He's been hindered by leg injuries and had to pull out of a few fights because of it, so if he's not as depleted while training it might help minimize the chances of that happening again.

Depends on how early he starts cutting...if it's close to the fight, that may be unrelated...

 

[Maaj19]

I don't think Rockholds heart is in it anymore. He's done a lot in the sport and suffered a very embarrassing defeat to Bisping. He's making great money outside fighting and still has his wits about him. Why continue to fight?

 

[AimedWithV]

I don't think Rockholds heart is in it anymore. He's done a lot in the sport and suffered a very embarrassing defeat to Bisping. He's making great money outside fighting and still has his wits about him. Why continue to fight?

Well, he hasn't retired yet.
And there is nothing "embarrassing" in the Bisping loss. Plus he showed enough heart in his next fight...

 

[Pancake Sprawl]

i can't really say Rockhold's striking is better than Santos or Smith.

i can say this however, both Santos and Smith are much better at their style of striking than Rockhold is at his.

Rockhold needs way better defense than he has currently if he expects to compete at LHW.

also, when you say a grappler knocked out Marreta, this is absolutely true, and while Rockhold did beat Branch himself, he looked like he could've gotten knocked out too vs Branch.

i've said it before and i'll say it again. Rockhold's chance to become a champion lies within his grappling and finding a reliable way of getting the fight to the ground.

his striking is as good as it's going to get and it's not that good.

vs Bisping he made huge errors that NO experienced southpaw should've made, and that was very telling to me. that he doesn't fully grasp how to use angles and footwork as a southpaw. these are things southpaws are raised on, their bread and butter, and he was totally fucking up.