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Luke Rockhold wants to fight Costa Philippou at UFC on FOX 7

Source: http://www.mmafighting.com/2013/1/16...t-ufc-on-fox-7

Quote:

Luke Rockhold watches Strikeforce's biggest names receive their UFC debut fights and wonders when his number will be called.

The last Strikeforce middleweight champion told MMAFighting.com recently that he has yet to receive his marching orders from the UFC but is back to training after suffering a wrist injury and ready to make his Octagon debut.

In fact, Rockhold has a candidate in mind for his first UFC fight.

"I think Costa Philippou makes the most sense right now," he said. "He's coming off a win, and I think he's a good opponent. Let's get it on at [UFC on FOX 7]."

UFC on FOX 7, which is scheduled for April 20, already features former Strikeforce stars Gilbert Melendez and Daniel Cormier taking on Benson Henderson and Frank Mir, respectively, in high-profile fights. That card takes place at the unofficial home of Strikeforce, the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif., which is also the home of the American Kickboxing Academy, where both Rockhold and Cormier, among others, train.

Philippou (12-2, 1 NC) didn't respond to MMAFighting.com's request for a comment, but his manager Lex McMahon called Rockhold's idea "a great fight."

Rockhold (10-1), a winner in his last nine fights, said he will be paying close attention to this weekend's UFC on FX 7 main event fight between Michael Bisping and Vitor Belfort, which will have major ramifications on the middleweight division.

"I want Bisping to stay on the up and up so I can knock him out, but I want Belfort to win because that would open a path to Anderson [Silva].

"I want the fight that gets me to Anderson as fast as I can. I believe I can fight him like no one else can. I want that opportunity because I believe I'm the No. 1 contender."

If Belfort wins on Saturday night, that would leave Rockhold and Weidman as only real options left for Silva at 185 pounds right now. Rockhold recognizes this and hopes to get to Silva first.

"I want to fight Silva before Weidman does because I think he might beat him," he said.

In the end, though, Rockhold really likes the idea of debuting in front of the familiar San Jose crowd.

"I want to debut in the Bay Area," he said. "I'm a Bay Area boy. So if anyone wants to step up, that would be great."

Solid fight right there. Winner could end up in a contender fight.

He should do the right thing and rematch Jacare after he robbed him in Strikeforce, Costa didn't look too good in that first round against Tim and something was obviously wrong with him because I've never seen Tim Boetsch pull guard, ever. But he won and that's all that matters, Rockhold and his flashy striking could probably get him a decision.

Luke...I am your father. Heeha...haha. It never gets old.

Luke, the force is not so strong with this one. Any mid tiered UFC fighter will give em a helluve a time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by No_Mercy (Post 1692025)

Luke...I am your father. Heeha...haha. It never gets old.

Luke, the force is not so strong with this one. Any mid tiered UFC fighter will give em a helluve a time.

I think that is underselling him big time. I don't think Luke is a top 5 guy but anyone after that and he has a good chance of winning. He would even give Bisping problems with his style matchup. Not saying he would win that fight. But he would likely beat guys like Stann and Belcher.

I like this attitude. Being SF champ he could have come over and been 'i deserve my title shot' etc etc but he is obviously humble enough to know he isn't up at that level yet. And beating Costa soundly would put him pretty much in the top 5 IMO.

Decent fight. Rockhold is probably better all around striker and a better grappler for sure. But I hope Pou drops the bomb on him.

It's kinda funny. He comes in and basically chooses the worst raked MW there is. Don't get me wrong, Philippou is a very good boxer, but his TDD is awful and I doubt he has any ground game. Luke basically chooses the easiest fight to get to Silva.

He mentions fighting Bisping and he says he wants to knock him out, but it really is only because of the fact that there is no way he gets matched up with him. If Bisping wins, he fights Silva, if he loses, well they won't match Luke up with a guy coming off of a loss. It's like a bully pretending to be tough while hiding behind his gang.

Then he mentions Belfort, but there is nothing about fighting him, if he wins. This is the most logical fight there is and it could be for the NR. 1 contender status. But noo, let's go with Philippou..

And then the Weidman thing? Of course he doesn't want to take that risk of waiting for Weidman to fight Silva. Silva fight = big money for Luke, Weidman = not so much.

Guy is just a clown, pure and simple.

I like this match up but whoever wins shouldn't be next in line for a title shot they should have to beat one more contender after before getting to the top spot in the division.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rebonecrusher (Post 1692625)

I like this match up but whoever wins shouldn't be next in line for a title shot they should have to beat one more contender after before getting to the top spot in the division.

I agree. Winner should get contender fight. Winner vs Vitor after he beats Bisping would be nice.