Watch Luke Rockhold purposely wipe his blood all over Paulo Costas face during final moments of h

May 2024 · 2 minute read

Former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold called time on his career after his comeback fight three years in the making ended in defeat.

The 37-year-old gave it everything he had but ultimately slumped to a unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 20-27) loss to ‘Borrachinha’ at UFC 278 in Salt Lake City.

After three rounds of back-and-forth battle, the middleweight duo were spent, covered in blood, and being cheered on by the excited fans inside Vivint Arena.

The bout ended with a grappling exchange that saw Rockhold work his way to the top position, but he was too exhausted to mount any serious offence and instead chose to attack his opponent in the most peculiar way.

Rockhold took his blood-covered nose and purposely rubbed it all over his opponent's face in what proved to be a final act of defiance before he retired from the sport.

After it was officially announced he had lost a third consecutive fight, the former Strikeforce and UFC champion told Joe Rogan his MMA career was over.

“I’ve been through so much these last few years. I f****** can’t do this s*** anymore. I gave it my all. I just didn’t… I’m f****** old,” Rockhold said during his post-fight interview.

In his heyday, Rockhold was one of the best middleweight fighters of all time and this is evidenced by the fact he holds wins over the likes of Chris Weidman, Lyoto Machida, Michael Bisping, Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza, and Tim Kennedy.

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Unfortunately, his career quickly fell apart in the aftermath of his UFC title win in December 2015 as he took up modeling and cozied up to popstar Demi Lovato.

Rockhold fought late-replacement opponent Bisping in what many believed would be a routine first defence of his title at UFC 199, but it went horribly wrong.

‘The Count’ scored a first-round knockout win over his bitter rival who has never really looked the same since despite getting back to winning ways against David Branch in his comeback fight.

Since then, he has suffered knockout losses against Yoel Romero and Jan Blachowicz which led to him taking three years away from the sport as he contemplated retirement.

After 15 minutes in the Octagon with Costa, Rockhold decided that he is done for good and he can certainly retire with pride after giving the fans one hell of a show at UFC 278.

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