"I just want to test myself against the best" - Luke Rockhold wants to fight Israel Adesanya regardless of belts

Luke Rockhold is a man on a mission. The former UFC middleweight champion is ready to step inside the cage after a three-year-long hiatus as he gets ready to take on Paulo Costa.

The 37-year-old has already conquered the 185lbs division in the past, becoming world champion by beating Chris Weidman back in 2015.

In what's set to be his second stint with the promotion, Rockhold wants to test his mettle against the best fighters on the planet. Already going up against a dangerous knockout artist like Costa up next, the AKA product has set his sights on reigning champion Israel Adesanya.

However, Rockhold has made it clear that his motivation to fight Adesanya isn't just the gold strap that adorns 'The Last Stylebender's' waist. Instead, it is to challenge himself against the best in the world.

During a recent interaction with Submission Radio, Rockhold stated:

"Anybody who looks at the belt and just wants the belt is a b***h. I look at a champion and I want to take the champion to be the champion. You don't look at the f***ing belt like, 'Oh, the belt's going to make you a champion'. Beating the champion makes you a f***ing champion so that's all you focus on is the f***ing champion and that's it... I just want to fight Israel and test myself against the best."

Watch Rockhold's full interview with Submission Radio below:

---

Luke Rockhold believes Jared Cannonier has a "twenty percent chance" of beating Israel Adesanya

Luke Rockhold doesn't think Jared Cannonier has anything more than a "puncher's chance" of beating Israel Adesanya in their upcoming fight. Rockhold explained that the Nigerian-born Kiwi fighter's movement will be too much for Cannonier and he'll find it hard to touch up a moving target.

If 'The Killa Gorilla' tries to take Adesanya down, Luke Rockhold feels that the champion will bruise him up with vicious kicks. However, the former champion understands that anything can happen in the fight game and Cannonier might become the first man to put 'The Last Stylebender' away in the middleweight division:

"Cannonier's got a twenty percent chance. He's got a puncher's chance I mean but it's just so long and effective how [Adesanya] gets out of the way of a power puncher like that. I don't know, I don't see, he fights from so many angles it's gonna be tough for Cannonier to get through those power kicks and take down so whatever he's going to f***ing try to do... you never know though, he's a tough dude."

Adesanya and Cannonier are scheduled to lock horns in the headliner of UFC 276 on July 3.