Luke Rockhold appears to be all in on a move up to light heavyweight, and he has a welcome party in mind.
In a Monday appearance on "The MMA Hour," the former middleweight champion said all signs were pointing to a change in weight class and set his sights on a rubber match with longtime rival Michael Bisping for his divisional debut.
"You know that’s a fight that, if it’s on the table, I’m gonna have to jump that to the front of the line before I do anything else," Rockhold said. "If he can back up what he just said, I’ll be very willing to take that fight anywhere, anytime.
"Let’s make it a little more intriguing," he added. "Let’s bring it to 205."
Bisping, whose next bout is expected to be his last, said he'd be happy to go out with a rubber match against Rockhold in a recent episode of his "Believe You Me" podcast. The brash Brit stoked the fire by claiming he "exposed" Rockhold and took his soul in their rematch, with Rockhold positing July's UFC 226 as a perfect date to settle the score.
"I know that this is a fight the UFC is pursuing, so we'll see if Bisping can back up his mouth once again," Rockhold said.
Rockhold submitted Bisping back in November 2014 but lost the middleweight crown to him by first-round knockout at UFC 199. The former champion stated a move to 205 pounds was "imminent" prior to suffering a knockout at Yoel Romero's hands at UFC 221 last month, adding the "weight cuts (to 185 pounds) are getting to me these days" when speaking to Ariel Helwani on Monday.
The ex-champ also fielded a "pretty petty" callout from former light heavyweight title challenger Alexander Gustafsson shortly after he fell to Romero, and promised he was "coming for that ass too" once he's closed the book on his beef with Bisping - who hasn't competed at 205 pounds in over a decade.
