Who wins between prime Luke Rockhold and Khamzat Chimaev? UFC fans weigh in

Luke Rockhold's UFC career ended on a rough note as the 38-year-old parted ways with the promotion after suffering a three-fight losing streak.

However, despite the rough patch he's been through, MMA fans have seemingly not forgotten how good Rockhold was during his prime days in the UFC.

An individual uploaded a post on Twitter featuring Luke Rockhold displaying his grappling prowess against Tim Boetsch in a UFC fight. In the caption, the user claimed that a 'prime Rockhold' would make light work of UFC's rising star Khamzat Chimaev.

Check out the clip below:

The tweet started an online debate as many MMA fans chimed in with their own opinions on the potential fight.

One user said that after watching Chimaev's fight against Gilbert Burns, it would not be out of bounds to assume that Rockhold could defeat Chimaev inside the octagon:

"For a blessed 15 min after the Gilbert Burns fight, we were able to admit that Khamzat was human. Still freakishly good! Still probably gonna be champ one day! But human. Now people back to acting like the champ of a division above where he fights, in his prime, stood no chance."

Several other Twitter users then went on to make the case for the former UFC middleweight champion.

"Disgustingingly diabolical unheard of W."

But there were others who took Borz's side, claiming the Chechen-born Swede would make light work of Rockhold. Some also insulted the user who posted the video, criticizing him for his opinion.

---

Luke Rockhold UFC: How did the 38-year-old fare in the multi-billion dollar promotion?

Luke Rockhold's stint in the UFC lasted over nine years. During this time, the 38-year-old competed in 11 fights and emerged victorious in six. Rockhold's run in the promotion included fights with Michael Bisping, Vitor Belfort, Lyoto Machida, Yoel Romero, Jan Blachowicz, and Paulo Costa.

During his UFC tenure, Rockhold also managed to capture UFC gold as he defeated Chris Weidman at UFC 194 to be crowned the new middleweight king.

However, with time, Rockhold became less and less active in the promotion, competing only five times since December 2015. His last fight took place against Paulo Costa at UFC 278 in August 2022. The bout was a back-and-forth war that ended in a unanimous decision victory for the Brazilian. After the loss, Rockhold ended his journey with the UFC.