Luke Rockhold is back.
The former UFC middleweight champion scored his first mixed martial arts win in years, defeating veteran kickboxer and former Bellator fighter Joe Schilling in the main event of Karate Combat 45 in Dubai on Saturday afternoon.
Rockhold stopped Schilling early in the third round. He grounded Schilling with a huge right hand, followed by ground and pound to end the fight.
You can watch the video of Rockhold’s finish below.
Luke Rockhold finishes Joe Schilling with a brutal right hand at Karate Combat 45 😳 #KC45 (via 🎥 @karatecombat) pic.twitter.com/2LrKT2iGhU
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) April 20, 2024
After his victory, Rockhold called for a match against fellow former UFC champion Lyoto Machida in Karate Combat.
“There’s only one guy I want to fight in this pit, and that’s Lyoto Machida,” Rockhold said in his post-fight interview. “Fortunately, they don’t allow elbow strikes, so no more nightmares about elbows. Bring it on. Let’s see what we got, let’s see what the pay is like. Let’s get out the checkbook.
“Ryoto, I know you need your payday shit, come get it.”
This will be Rockhold’s second fight after the UFC. After fighting out his contract with the UFC in August 2022 and briefly hinting at retirement, Rockhold faced Mike Perry in a bare-knuckle boxing match in April 2023, but lost by TKO. He returned to stop Schilling under the striking rules of karate combat.
Rockhold and Machida have faced off before. The two met in 2015 while headlining a UFC Fight Night event. That night in New Jersey, Rockhold applied a rear-naked choke to Machida. Machida is currently a free agent after parting ways with Bellator a few years ago. He has not yet officially retired and has expressed interest in fighting again.
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