Former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold’s highly anticipated move to light heavyweight may have to wait, as a leg injury could force Rockhold out of competition for the near future.
Rockhold apparently reinjured his leg while training for the proposed Alexander Gustafsson fight at UFC 227 in August.
The former champion sent MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani video of his shin being stitched up as proof of the injury:
Luke Rockhold reinjured his leg in training late last week and is now definitely not fighting Alexander Gustafsson this summer. I’m told he’s hoping to return in October, at the earliest. Here’s a video he provided to me of his shin getting stitched up. (Warning: GRAPHIC) pic.twitter.com/CDQseH7nUN
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) May 22, 2018
Rockhold was planning on making the move up to light heavyweight from the middleweight division following a knockout loss to Yoel Romero for the interim 185-pound title.
”The Mauler” offered to welcome the former middleweight champ to the light heavyweight division, and the bout was targeted for August before Tuesday’s news of Rockhold’s injury.
Rockhold then sent a second video clip of his leg getting stitched up:
And if that video wasn’t enough for you, here’s another of the stitching. pic.twitter.com/7DNsftcirW
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) May 22, 2018
From the look of those videos, Rockhold won’t be fighting anytime soon. Unfortunately, the Gustafsson fight will have to wait.
