Former UFC champion Luke Rockhold has called Dana White a “tyrant” in a fiery new interview.
Rockhold, 36, hasn’t fought since losing his light heavyweight debut against Jan Blachowicz in July 2019. That defeat marked his third loss in his last four fights, with the first of those three being his dramatic defeat at the hands of rival Michael Bisping.
“Fighting is like a mafia”
Ever since then, many MMA fans believe Rockhold has never been the same.
During a recent appearance on the Rippin’ It podcast, Rockhold opened up about what’s happened between him and UFC president Dana White in the last few years.
“Fighting is like a mafia. They have these very mafioso-type tactics in negotiations, they try to f*** with you. I’m not having any of it.” Rockhold said.
“If you don’t know your worth someone will tell you your worth and it’ll be less than your worth.
“Once I lost the world title, Dana White came up to me and tried to beat me down mentally and I was like ‘f*** you’ straight up. I was like I’m going to go do my own thing, if you’re going to try and offer me this and that bulls***.
“You know who I am and what I did, that’s the only reason I went out and got a modelling contract so I could leverage myself.”
Rockhold is currently out through injury but hopes to make a return to the octagon this summer.
“They have governing bodies everywhere else but we’ve got an egotistical guy that’s a bit of a tyrant. He is going to try to fight you and you’ve got to put your f***ing ass on the line. Stand your ground and you’ve gotta take risks, otherwise you get treated like a b****.
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