"This is a mafia" - Luke Rockhold describes how UFC caused him to turn sour after losing the title

Luke Rockhold is finally ready to make his long awaited return to the octagon and is in better spirits than he was a few years back. Rockhold has become more vocal about his thoughts on the UFC's business practices as of late, and during an interview with Ariel Helwani, he said that he noticed issues right from his debut with the company.

While on The MMA Hour, Rockhold got into the specifics about the pronounced shifts he has felt since losing the UFC middleweight title. When asked about previously fighting with hate and using it as a motivator, Luke Rockhold said:

"After losing the title, you get disrespected. This is a mafia, the UFC. You know how it is, Ariel. Dana ripped you from my seat that night. From my event, he ripped you from there and he ripped you out of the UFC for doing your job. There's no rhyme or reason in this game. When you lose your leverage, these people try to step on you."

Rockhold continued about his distaste towards the UFC:

"Then you just fight back and it's a constant fight, it's annoying. Its fucking sick. It's disgusting, it needs to change. I'm not scared to say it...It turned me sour."

Rockhold dropped the middleweight title to Michael Bisping via first-round knockout loss at UFC199 inJune 2016.

Watch the interview/ video below

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Luke Rockhold's road since losing the title

Rockhold rebounded from his championship loss to Bisping by returning to the win column against a surging contender at the time. Rockhold bested David Branch via second-round TKO at UFC Fight Night 116 in September 2017.

After the win, Luke Rockhold was thrust into a bout with Yoel Romero at UFC 221. The February 2018 clash saw 'The Soldier of God' finish the former middleweight champion via strikes in the third round of their bout.

Rockhold then made a jump up to 205 lbs to clash with former UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz. He was again finished with strikes in the second stanza of their UFC 239 bout in July 2019.

The California native now returns to the middleweight division this Saturday to face Paulo Costa in the UFC 278 co-main event.