Luke Rockold has endured plenty of highs and lows during his 24-fight combat sports career.
The former UFC middleweight champion reached the peak of MMA by beating Chris Weidman in 2015.
A decade later, Luke Rockhold is attempting to save his career after suffering several knockout losses in the UFC and Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship [BKFC].
He’ll face Darren Till in the main event of Misfits Boxing 22, which will take place in Manchester, England, on Saturday night.
Before the 40-year-old veteran puts his suspect chin on the line in boxing, Bloody Elbow has revisited and ranked the five KO defeats that killed his career.
5. Mike Perry
Luke Rockhold made the switch to bare-knuckle boxing to fight Mike Perry in April 2023.
It didn’t go well as the ‘King of Violence’ literally smashed his teeth and face in at BKFC 41.
Perry didn’t land a knockout blow, but the punishment he dished out forced a stoppage.
Rockhold took out his mouthpiece and quit in the middle of round two, as he didn’t want to take more damage in a sport he has since trashed.
4. Vitor Belfort
UFC debuts don’t get much harder than Vitor Belfort during TRT-fuelled prime years.
That’s what Rockhold faced after crossing over to MMA’s premier promotion as the Strikeforce middleweight champion.
‘The Phenom’ caught him with a picture-perfect spinning heel kick when they clashed in May 2013.
Rockhold dropped to the floor, but was still conscious until Belfort put his lights up with six nasty ground strikes.
3. Yoel Romero
Five years later, Rockhold’s second run at the UFC middleweight title was shut down by Yoel Romero.
The chiseled Cuban powerhouse had earned a reputation for scoring late knockouts after stopping Chris Weidman, Lyoto Machida, Tim Kennedy, and Derek Brunson in the third round.
Romero delivered another late finish when he fought Rockhold at UFC 221 in February 2018.
‘Soldier of God’ backed up his opponent to the fence before connecting with a hellacious overhand.
Rockhold was dazed and confused on the floor when he ate a single follow-up shot that bounced the former 185lb king’s head off the Octagon wall and put him out cold.
2. Jan Blachowicz
Rockhold’s next fight saw him suffering a similarly devastating KO loss to Jan Blachowicz.
An ill-advised move to heavyweight saw Rockhold take on the heavy-handed fan favorite at UFC 239 in July 2019.
A brutal win for Blachowicz seemed inevitable, even before he landed flush with his legendary Polish power.
Rockhold was once again left looking lost on the floor when Blachowicz connected with a left hook on the break. A few follow-up shots closed the show and ended Rockhold’s very brief stint in the UFC’s 205lbs division.
1. Michael Bisping
Rockhold’s downfall started when he accepted a short-notice fight with Michael Bisping.
The reigning middleweight champion dropped and choked out Bisping during his rise to the top.
So, he thought it would be easy when ‘The Count’ came off a movie set to face him on 17 days’ notice at UFC 199 in June 2016.
Bisping pulled off one of the biggest upsets in UFC history when he floored and finished Rockhold inside one round.
There may be more brutal finishes on the list, but none of them were as embarrassing as Bisping bouncing his head off the UFC cage.
Rockhold never truly recovered from the humiliating defeat, which he’ll try to avenge to some degree by beating Bisping’s English compatriot, Darren Till, at Misfits Boxing 22 this weekend.