Luke Rockhold set foot in the octagon for the last time at UFC 278 after an epic war with Paulo Costa that ended with the one-time middleweight champion dropping a unanimous decision and then announcing his retirement afterwards.
UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier, who counts Rockhold as one of his closest friends and teammates, called the action alongside Jon Anik and Joe Rogan but left his broadcast position to embrace the 37-year-old veteran as he walked out after the fight.
Afterwards, Cormier praised Rockhold for leaving everything he had in the cage in what was a fitting end to an incredibly accomplished career.
“My friend Luke Rockhold takes on the last fight of his professional career. I can’t say I’m not disappointed,” Cormier said in a video posted to his YouTube channel. “Because skill wise he looked like he still has a ton left but his cardio, his body posture, the way that he looked in there tells me that it’s about time for my boy to walk away. So I ran over and I gave him a big hug.”
It was an emotional moment for Cormier as he watched Rockhold call it a career after they essentially grew up together in the training room at the American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, Calif.
As he talked about Rockhold, Cormier displayed a picture that showed him with three of his UFC teammates. All of them held UFC titles and are now retired.
“Hats off to my boy Luke,” Cormier said. “Guys, I hope that you guys enjoy this while we were there. You have to be able to appreciate fighters as long as you still have them. You never know what day they will be gone.
“I got this picture sent to me and now we’re all gone. If you take a look at this picture, it shows Khabib Nurmagomedov (me, Luke Rockhold, and Cain Velasquez). You can also see the coach to the left, which is Cain’s body. Cain is in prison. We’ve had some really, really great times at the American Kickboxing Academy and the final of the guys we called the four kings takes a bow in front of the fans tonight in what I believe was a fairytale ending for Luke Rockhold.”
While Rockhold was deservedly given a lot attention for his final impressive outing, Cormier gave Costa credit for the win in what turned out to be a very difficult fight as both fighters had to deal with exhaustion due to Salt Lake City’s high altitude.
Costa won the fight with identical 30-27 scorecards across the board as the one-time middleweight title challenger got back on track after dropping his last two bouts in a row.
” Let’s credit Paulo Costa for dealing with an absolutely wildman there,” Cormier stated. “Luke was not the technical striker that you come to know. Luke was not that guy that was going to pick Paulo Costa apart. Luke was a madman and Paulo Costa not only stood in there but he beat him 30-27. Paulo Costa was the only one Luke took a round against.
“We are heaping praise on Luke Rockhold but Paulo Costa won and won the fight. He was very effective at grappling. He was so quick to get past Luke’s guard, and then to mount Luke multiple times. It was amazing. But it was also him being able to deal with the madness that was ensuing around him in regards to the fight itself.”
