1. Luke Skyler Rockhold was born on October 17,1984 and is an American retired mixed martial artist who is currently signed with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship and Karate Combat.
65 Facts About Luke Rockhold
1. 2.
Luke Rockhold formerly competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, where he is a former UFC Middleweight Champion.
3.
Luke Rockhold was born on October 17,1984, in Santa Cruz, California, from an athletic family.
4.
Luke Rockhold's father was a professional basketball player in Europe and his mother was an avid tennis player.
5.
Luke Rockhold started training in judo when he was 6 years old but quit upon turning ten.
6.
Luke Rockhold tried wrestling for a local community college but decided to take jiu-jitsu on full-time.
7.
Up-and-coming promotion Strikeforce called and offered Luke Rockhold a fight on their Strikeforce: Young Guns II card.
8.
Luke Rockhold looked impressive in his debut, forcing his opponent to submit from punches.
9.
The second fight took place on the Strikeforce: Destruction card, which Luke Rockhold won via submission.
10.
At Strikeforce: Shamrock vs Diaz, Luke Rockhold won his third consecutive fight.
11.
Luke Rockhold was given a step up in competition when he fought Cory Devela at Strikeforce Challengers: Villasenor vs Cyborg.
12.
At Strikeforce Challengers: Gurgel vs Evangelista, Luke Rockhold defeated The Ultimate Fighter 7 contestant, Jesse Taylor.
13.
In February 2010, Luke Rockhold defeated another Ultimate Fighter 7 finalist, Paul Bradley, and won via TKO.
14.
Luke Rockhold was scheduled to fight Matt Lindland at Strikeforce: San Jose but pulled out a few weeks before the fight due to a shoulder injury.
15.
Luke Rockhold was expected to face former title contender, Tim Kennedy, at Strikeforce 32; however, for unknown reasons, Luke Rockhold was removed from the bout.
16.
Luke Rockhold won the fight via unanimous decision to become the new Strikeforce Middleweight champion.
17.
Luke Rockhold cut the extra weight in the allotted two-hour limit.
18.
Luke Rockhold successfully defended his title for a second time, winning the fight via unanimous decision.
19.
However, Luke Rockhold was forced to withdraw from the show due to injury and the event was later cancelled.
20.
However, Luke Rockhold never agreed to the bout, citing a lingering shoulder injury.
21.
Luke Rockhold faced perennial multi-divisional contender Vitor Belfort on May 18,2013, in the main event at UFC on FX 8.
22.
Luke Rockhold lost the fight via knockout in the first round, after being caught with a spinning heel kick to the face.
23.
Luke Rockhold was expected to face Tim Boetsch on October 19,2013, at UFC 166.
24.
Luke Rockhold faced Costas Philippou on January 15,2014, at UFC Fight Night 35.
25.
Luke Rockhold won via TKO in the first round after dropping Philippou with a kick to the body.
26.
Luke Rockhold eventually faced Tim Boetsch on April 26,2014, at UFC 172.
27.
Luke Rockhold won the fight via submission in the first round.
28.
Luke Rockhold faced Michael Bisping on November 8,2014, at UFC Fight Night 55.
29.
Luke Rockhold won the fight in the second round, after dropping Bisping with a head kick and then applying a guillotine choke submission.
30.
Luke Rockhold defeated Machida in a one-sided fight via submission in the second round.
31.
Luke Rockhold earned his second consecutive Performance of the Night bonus award.
32.
Luke Rockhold is really hard to take down, and when you get him down his Jiu Jitsu is amazing.
33.
Luke Rockhold next faced Chris Weidman for the UFC Middleweight Championship on December 12,2015, at UFC 194.
34.
Luke Rockhold won by technical knockout in the fourth round and became the 7th middleweight champion in UFC history.
35.
Luke Rockhold was expected to face Ronaldo Souza in a rematch on November 27,2016, at UFC Fight Night 101.
36.
Luke Rockhold faced former two-time WSOF champion David Branch on September 16,2017, at UFC Fight Night 116 after being away from the sport for almost 15 months due to injuries.
37.
Luke Rockhold won the fight by forcing Branch to tap out from his punches in the second round.
38.
Luke Rockhold was scheduled to fight on February 10,2018, at UFC 221 against UFC Middleweight Champion Robert Whittaker.
39.
Luke Rockhold was replaced by Yoel Romero in a bout for the Interim UFC Middleweight Championship.
40.
Luke Rockhold was briefly linked to a light heavyweight bout with Alexander Gustafsson on August 4,2018, at UFC 227.
41.
However, Luke Rockhold later re-injured his leg in training and the fight was scuttled.
42.
However, on October 19,2018, it was reported Luke Rockhold withdrew from the bout, citing an injury, and he was replaced by Ronaldo Souza.
43.
In December 2018, Luke Rockhold announced he will be moving up to light heavyweight due to ever-increasingly harder weight cuts that have led to numerous injuries during training.
44.
Luke Rockhold lost the fight via knockout in the second round.
45.
Luke Rockhold was scheduled to face Paulo Costa on July 30,2022, at UFC 277.
46.
In January 2023, Luke Rockhold announced that he had negotiated a release from his UFC contract and would come out of retirement to compete for another MMA organization.
47.
On December 11,2024, it was announced that Luke Rockhold was signed by Global Fight League.
48.
Luke Rockhold competed against Nick Rodriguez at Polaris 12 on November 30,2019, where he lost a unanimous decision.
49.
Luke Rockhold was scheduled to face Craig Jones in a grappling match at Israel Fight Night on September 21,2023, but the event was cancelled.
50.
Luke Rockhold competed in the over 80kg division of the inaugural Craig Jones Invitational on August 16 and 17,2024.
51.
Luke Rockhold lost to Pat Downey by decision in the opening round.
52.
On March 1,2023, BKFC president Dave Feldman announced that Luke Rockhold had signed with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship.
53.
Luke Rockhold made his debut against Mike Perry at BKFC 41 on April 29,2023, and retired during the fight losing by technical knockout.
54.
Luke Rockhold made his Karate Combat debut by facing Joe Schilling on April 20,2024 at Karate Combat 45 in Dubai in a 195 pound catchweight bout.
55.
Luke Rockhold won the bout by a right hook knockout in the third round.
56.
Luke Rockhold signed up for the New York model management agency, Soul Artist Management, the same agency that found fellow UFC fighter Alan Jouban and jump started the career of Channing Tatum.
57.
Luke Rockhold has since had his first spread released as a professional model.
58.
Luke Rockhold has modeled at the New York Fashion Week.
59.
In 2018 Luke Rockhold became the new face of Ralph Lauren's "Polo Blue" cologne fragrance.
60.
Luke Rockhold was featured as a guest on The Millionaire Matchmaker reality show on Bravo TV in 2015.
61.
Luke Rockhold departed the show after asking Kara an inappropriate question.
62.
Luke Rockhold defended himself by saying that the comment was a scripted joke and that the editor dubbed it in the scene later on.
63.
Luke Rockhold dated singer and actor Demi Lovato for a few months in late 2016.
64.
In February 2022, a girlfriend of Luke Rockhold's had an abortion, and they subsequently broke up.
65.
Luke Rockhold is an avid surfer, skateboarder, and a professional model, having modeled at the New York Fashion Week and as the face of Ralph Lauren's "Polo Blue" fragrance.