Luke Rockhold is well aware of the narrative that seems to have propelled Alex Pereira into a middleweight title shot after just three Ultimate Fighting Championship appearances.
Pereira appears to be next in line to face Israel Adesanya following a first-round knockout against Sean Strickland on the UFC 276 main card last weekend. The former Glory two-division champion owns a pair of victories against Adesanya in professional kickboxing, which has made him an interesting challenger for the middleweight throne. Rockhold gets it, but he isn’t overly impressed by Pereira.
“Yeah, it’s an intriguing story, Alex Pereira has beat Izzy twice,” Rockhold told Submission Radio. “And so you’re looking at any level of intrigue, and so they’re looking for someone that they can throw in the mix, even though Alex Pereira would get mauled by, 20 guys in the UFC would probably maul him. But yeah, it’s a compelling story if you get him past a brawler like Sean Strickland. So, they did it, and it’s up and going. So, it’s my job to go f—-ing deter that.”
A former middleweight champion himself, the 37-year-old Rockhold is set to make his first Octagon appearance since July 2019 when he faces Paulo Costa at UFC 278 in Salt Lake City on Aug. 20. It’s a fight that Rockhold believes could propel him into the championship discussion.
“Anything is possible with this fight and in this fight,” Rockhold said. “I mean, Marvin Vettori is the No. 1 guy in the world, right? Or [Robert] Whittaker? Paulo’s only been smoked by Izzy. Vettori barely, he didn’t do anything great against him last time. So, if I can go out there and smoke him, it’s gonna tell.”
And if he can author an impressive showing against Costa, Rockhold is confident he has what it takes to defeat Adesanya, who hasn’t lost a fight at middleweight in his career.
“I know how to fight Izzy. It’s a straightforward fight. He’s a tough fight, man. He’s a big puzzle,” Rockhold said. “He’s the most complicated puzzle there is at middleweight that there’s been for a long time. So, it’s going to be interesting. But I think with the right game, that’s my fight.
“We were talking the other night and I think the hardest fight for me right now is Whittaker. But if I play the right game with many of these guys, it’s my fight. So, I just gotta be level-headed and focused and go out there and do my thing.”
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