I think Rockhold's mistake was to bulk up too much after he came into UFC

[ArtardFiesta]

Rockhold has a bunch of mental issues.

He was raised in a satanic family, they named him Lucifer.

Who knows if he had to partake in satanic ritual abuse or was abused, but it would explain why he chose fighting and drugs as an escape.

He won the belt in the ufc so it is a moot point. HIs issues in the end were his chin which has nothing to do with bulk unless you mean being punched by bigger guys wasn't the best for him. He would have been amazing ww if he could make 170. An upgrade from Leon edwards, and basically a more exciting version of usman and belal.

 

[Chubi]

Unfortunately Rockhold's prime stopped as soon as he held the belt.

 

[Mammothman]

The issue is that his chin was shot. He drops immediately when hit flush. At the top level, you are going to get hit flush.
View attachment 1057864

The Arlosvki trick, instead of having a good chin just let your chin put your brain to sleep once its touched to avoid further damage and fight one more time.

 

[MeatGrinder]

I was under the impression ol' boy had a hog on him. Maybe that came in after this photo.

 

[blaseblase]

His striking defense was always a liability, even in Strikeforce he was fighting with his hands down and chin in the air. I don't think he fought any heavy hitters in Strikeforce so it didn't get exposed until he got to the UFC. Bisping landing that left hook is probably when it permanently cracked. There are ways to minimize getting KO'd as Econoreem demonstrated but Rockhold was never able to adjust and learn to protect his chin.

 

[Bork Neslar]

He was raised in a satanic family, they named him Lucifer.

Who knows if he had to partake in satanic ritual abuse or was abused, but it would explain why he chose fighting and drugs as an escape.

Huge if true.

 

[Lars6]

Luke is a great fighter but his chin and striking defense are sus

 

[Black Blood]

Not sure if you are missing something but a Left Hook from your opponent ie Bisping hits you on your right side. The TRTitor wheel kick him Luke on his left side. Seems like he is vulnerable all over.

I said left side strikes on purpose! Maybe I shoulda said left limb strikes?

 

[xhaydenx]

Nah, Rockhold's problem was that he never learned how to strike properly.

He moved around a lot, but when the punches started coming, most of the time he just stood too stationary while trying to just lean out of the way of the strike, usually backwards in his case.

This shit worked because he was tall and because he was fighting lesser fighters with crap striking. Once he started fighting anyone with basic striking training he just got caught trying to sway over and over again.

Bill Algeo at FW is basically the same fighter. Shit-tier defense that worked on the regionals against bums, but just gets him caught and TKOd easily by basic striking.

 

[JoeganMoldberg]

I got the impression that he has drug problems. I think he alluded to it on a visit to his home from some tv crew. I forget what that video was exactly. all in all, he's been kinda a glass cannon. Skilled, but big struggles when met with adversity.

Is that why he aged so fast physically? Lol, dude went from a young looking model to old attractive man pretty fast.

 

[justmark]

Is that why he aged so fast physically? Lol, dude went from a young looking model to old attractive man pretty fast.

It doesn't count when you use drugs in your early 30s.

 

[dipstickjimmy]

I said left side strikes on purpose! Maybe I shoulda said left limb strikes?

You are still not making sense. You said:
"Seriously, all of his KOs came from left-side strikes, whether left hooks or a wheel kick"
The Left hook hit his right side and the wheel kick hit his right side. Both happened to be with left limbs from his opponent but for Luke his defense isn't dictated by which limb is being used it would be which side he is vulnerable. For example Bisping's bad right eye makes him susceptible to strikes coming from his right which is usually a left hook or left high kick. On Luke the kick came from the right due to the spin.

 

[Lord Pyjamas]

What is your thing with Rockhold?
You keep posting about him and even for a troll it does not make sense.
You actually have a crush on him? If so. Good for you!
But don't involve the forum with it.

 

[Poirierfan]

Too much emphasis on bulking up his cock imho.

 

[mkt]

Outside the TRT Belfort fight, where his striking defense was poor, Rockhold was a beast in the UFC until the Weidman fights. Brutal finishes of Phillipou, Boetsch, Machida, Bisping (first fight) and Weidman. Besides Anderson Silva's initial 8-fight win streak (all finishes), I can't think of another UFC MW with that kind of highlight reel of consecutive finishes of quality opponents (especially the last 3).

So no, I don't think bulking was his problem. I've always said something odd happened in the Weidman-Rockhold. Both were barely over 30 and neither looked the same afterwards. I don't have a conspiracy theory to explain it, but it sure was weird.

 

[mkt]

He never learned proper striking defense and never had the chin to compensate for that. Seriously, all of his KOs came from left-side strikes, whether left hooks or a wheel kick.

And when Luke was younger, he had good kicks, was athletic and used his footwork and size/range to mask his poor striking defense most of the time. That wouldn't have saved him against a prime Anderson or Poatan (his only chance there would be taking it to the ground, and his TDs were mediocre). But it was enough to keep him out of harm against guys like Kennedy and Jacare. Jacare's striking improved in the UFC, so I'm not sure how a rematch would've gone. I'd definitely pick Jacare after Rockhold-Weidman when Luke fell apart.

 

[Kono dio da!]

He was slim and agile in his strikefroce days, with great cardio, as you can see in this image:

This version of Luke was something else.

Would this version of him have been able to ragdoll Weidmann or tank Costa's shots though?