UFC Rumors: Returning Former Middleweight Champ Insists He's Being Ducked By Top Contenders

A returning former UFC champ has seemingly grown tired of current fighters avoiding him.

Luke Rockhold has been eyeing a UFC return after being inactive for almost two years. Despite feeling confident about his body, Rockhold has yet to be scheduled for a UFC fight.

The promotion has not spoken about Rockhold’s situation yet. However, the former UFC middleweight champ has already claimed that most of the top contenders in the 185-pound division are ducking him.

“There’s a lot of guys but none of them want to sign the contract,” Rockhold recently told MMA reporter Helen Yee. “Everyone wants to run around.”

“There’s guys that make sense. Uriah Hall was an option – he didn’t want that. Kevin Holland was an option – doesn’t seem like that was an option. [Darren] Till was thrown around, I think people jumped on that one. I’m not opposed to anyone, Paulo Costa, anybody in that range. I mean, the Italian kid [Marvin Vettori] jumped – he beat Kevin Holland and he got a title fight. I just don’t understand that. He beat a guy coming off a loss,” he added.

Further adding weight to his case, Rockhold insisted that he is ultimately ready for a fight and badly needs one sooner rather than later.

“I’ve been inactive but I needed the time off but there’s also injuries and everything I had to assess and then had to take care of,” he pointed out. “So it’s not exactly my choice but the time off has suited me well. I’ve healed all my issues and I’m ready to go. I just need a fight, an opponent, a contract.”

This wasn’t the first time Rockhold had lashed out over his situation. In an appearance on “The Real Quick with Mike Swick” podcast, Rockhold stressed that he needs a “top 10 guy,” and no matter what they think about him, none of the current UFC fighters have the right to turn down a fight.

“It’s really about fighting someone who’s going to fight,” the former Strikeforce champ emphasized. “I need to find a top 10 guy who’s ready to sack up and ready to fight. There’s already been multiple people in the top 10 making excuses about why they don’t want to fight me.”

“It’s just like, ‘who the f--- are you to turn down the fight? Where is your entitlement and what you think you have?’” he exclaimed.

Rockhold last competed at UFC 239 where he suffered a round 2 KO loss to now-UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz.