"He's the only guy who reached out to me personally"- Luke Rockhold names potential opponent for UFC return

Luke Rockhold is ready to make a return to the octagon after a hiatus of two years. However, Rockhold is seemingly frustrated by the dearth of worthy opponents for his UFC return. The former Strikeforce and UFC middleweight champion even recently accused Khamzat Chimaev of ducking him.

However, Rockhold has apparently found a fighter who seems interested in fighting him. In a recent interview with MMA Fighting, Luke Rockhold named none other than Kevin Holland as his next potential opponent.

According to Rockhold, Holland is the only fighter to have established personal contact with him. While Rockhold wasn't sure of the fight coming to fruition, he commended Holland for being game. Speaking of the Chimaev episode, Luke Rockhold told Mike Heck of MMA Fighting:

“I was looking at ‘85ers, top-10 ranked guys, I wanted solid guys. Uriah Hall went the other way and chose a different guy. I know my management talked with Kevin Holland and he actually reached out to me. He’s the only guy that reached out to me personally and, ‘Who said I was ducking?’ And I was like, ‘I don’t know, the managers talked and it didn’t sound like it was the direction they wanted to go.’ He was like, ‘No, no, no, let me handle my business and I’ll step up and do my thing.’ That guy, respect to him, he’s the man. He’s the only guy, I’m assuming, that wanted something that’s interesting, so we’ll see if that comes later."

Known to be one of the most game fighters in the UFC, Kevin Holland has dropped back-to-back decisions in his last two outings.

Luke Rockhold wants an exciting opponent

While Luke Rockhold may be all geared up to make a return to the Octagon, he wants to do it against the right opponent. Rockhold made it clear that he is willing to wait and let things play out rather than take up a fight that doesn't excite him. Luke Rockhold further told Mike Heck:

“I just want someone that’s fun. If it’s someone outside the top 10, it’s got to be f*ckin’ something that gives me some interest, somebody who’s got f*ckin’ personality, some hype, someone that gets me out of f*ckin’ bed. I’m not gonna wake up for some f*ckin’ chump that doesn’t do anything for me, get out of bed and work my ass off."