Luke Rockhold happy for Dan Henderson, calls out Anderson Silva
While the rest of the middleweights are losing their shit, thanks to the promotion’s decision to grant Dan Henderson a crack at the middleweight crown, former 185-pound kingpin Luke Rockhold is not butthurt about playing second fiddle to “Hendo.”
Probably because the legendary slugger “earned his stripes” over the course of his storied mixed martial arts (MMA) career, which led to a recent knockout win over Hector Lombard at UFC 199.
That’s the same event that saw Rockhold (15-3) surrender his strap to Michael Bisping. And since “The Count” will be unavailable for an immediate rematch, the American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) standout told ESPN’s Five Rounds he’s ready for the next challenge of his career.
MMA Fighting transcribes:
“There's a guy I've always wanted to fight and that's Anderson Silva. Anderson Silva is still in the division, he's still obviously relevant. He had the controversial loss to Bisping, and I had my loss to Bisping. I think he's still very relevant and it's a fight that makes a lot of sense and would be a fun one to do. Personally, looking at the division I think that makes the most sense. I've already fought Jacare. Weidman, of course a lot of people talking about that rematch but I don't really see the sense in it at this point. I'm open to a lot of things, but I really like the sound of that match-up now."
Probably because Silva is “not on his level and never was.”
It’s been a tough few years for the 41-year-old “Spider,” who was dumped and humped by Daniel Cormier on super short notice at UFC 200, thanks to some behind-the-scenes tomfoolery from light heavyweight champion Jon Jones.
The Brazilian (33-8, 1 NC) hasn’t registered an official win in almost four years.
That said, he’s still a dangerous striker with years of battle-tested experience. The promotion has yet to decide what’s next for either middleweight, but I’d reckon you’d be hard pressed to fight a fight fan not intrigued by this potential pairing.
How about it?
http://www.mmamania.com/2016/7/28/12309674/luke-rockhold-happy-dan-henderson-calls-out-anderson-silva-mma