SALT LAKE CITY – Despite a few bumps in the road during fight week with him, it doesn’t sound like Dana White is interested in holding a grudge with Luke Rockhold.
Rockhold returned in the UFC 278 co-main event Saturday for his first fight in more than three years. But in the build-up to his fight with former middleweight title challenger Paulo Costa, ex-champ Rockhold was critical of the UFC for fighter pay, and promotion president White in particular.
After White said in a Q&A with GQ ahead of UFC 278 that the promotion’s fighters were paid what they’re supposed to be paid, and he’s not planning pay increases under his watch, Rockhold took aim at him and said in his media day interview that White is holding the sport back.
That may have made for an awkward interaction at the ceremonial weigh-ins on Friday, but Rockhold seemed to be more focused on his fight with Costa than his criticism on White. But UFC 278, Costa (14-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) outlasted Rockhold (16-6 MMA, 6-5 UFC) for a unanimous decision sweep of the scorecards.
After the loss, in which Rockhold was a bloody mess, he said in a post-fight interview with Joe Rogan that the fight likely was his last and said age – he’s 37 – and injuries in recent years contributed to that decision.
If there was friction between him and White, who definitely took issue with Rockhold’s fight-week comments, it seemed to be water under the bridge after the sold-out event at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City.
“I think that coming into a situation like both of theirs, there’s a lot of pressure,” White said at a post-event news conference. “There’s a lot of stress. And listen, you know me – who’s more ‘freedom of speech’ than me? He’s entitled to his own opinions and his own whatever it is that went on this week.
“But let me tell you what: I’ll never say anything about him. I totally respect him. And after that war tonight, normal humans like us that are sitting in this room have no idea what those two went through tonight in that octagon – and we never will, thank f*cking God, OK? For both of them to dig as deep as they did and put on an absolute dogfight like they did, I have nothing but respect for both of them. Are they both a little nutty? Absolutely. But nothing but respect.”
Even though Rockhold criticized the $50,000 post-fight bonus structure in a pre-UFC 278 interview, White gave him Fight of the Night for his bout with Costa.
Rockhold, a former Strikeforce and UFC 185-pound champ, won five post-fight bonuses in his 11 fights in the promotion.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 278.
