"Dana White controls the narrative"- Luke Rockhold frustrated at Dana White "never giving him a chance" during his UFC career

Luke Rockhold felt like he never quite got a fair shake with Dana White.

Speaking with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, Rockhold discussed his mixed martial arts swan song against Paulo Costa at UFC 278. He also touched on the entirety of his journey in the sport during the conversation.

Rockhold shared his discontent with fighting Vitor Belfort circa 2013 during his TRT era for his UFC debut. He comparing it to the treatment some other Strikeforce champions got coming over:

"From the moment I came in the UFC, he never gave me a fuckin chance. Wrote me off, never highlighted my years in Strikeforce. Or anything I did on the wins, only my losses. Dana White controls the narrative of what the public perceives. It's like he fucked me from the start and it took me sixteen, seventeen years to comeback and have a fight like that to earn my respect."

Luke Rockhold continued:

"Nothing I did in the past mattered until now, alright. That's why I feel the way I feel sometimes, you know. That's why I said the things I say. You've got to understand the power that you have in that situation with the narrative you create. The public believes what they want to believe and what you tell them to believe."

Watch the interview/ video below:

The incredible throwdown between the former Strikeforce/ UFC middleweight champ and the No. 6 ranked UFC middleweight saw each take home an extra bonus afterwards.

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Luke Rockhold and other AKA retirements

Luke Rockhold hung up the gloves on August 20 and joined several elite alumni from the American Kickboxing Academy to have called it a day in MMA.

Daniel Cormier stepped away from the competition after his third fight with Stipe Miocic at UFC 252 in August 2020. The former UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight world champion carved out a UFC Hall of Fame career for himself. He embraced Luke Rockhold after his loss over the weekend.

Khabib Nurmagomedov retired in the cage after defending his lightweight world title against Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 in October 2020. Many see him as one of the best mixed martial artists of all-time. He removed the gloves inside the Octagon as an unbeaten warrior.

Josh Thomson was one of the elder statesmen at the American Kickboxing Academy. The former Strikeforce lightweight world champion also had runs in UFC and Bellator MMA. The former Pride FC star last competed in February 2017.