Morning Report | Luke Rockhold gives Alex Pereira his props: ‘He’s one of the GOATs’

Luke Rockhold is done hating on Alex Pereira.

Once upon a time, Rockhold was the UFC middleweight champion and considered to be one of the best fighters in the world. And even after losing his title and ending his MMA career on a dreadful run of one win over his final five fights, Rockhold never lost the confidence that got him to the top of the sport, including his resolute belief that Pereira represented “a free belt” should they ever fight.

Well, no more of that talk from Rockhold.

Earlier this month, “Poatan” reclaimed the UFC light heavyweight title with a first-round demolition of Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 320. The win not only returned Pereira to champion status but it also, finally earned Rockhold’s respect.

“I used to hate on Alex Pereira, but motherf*cker’s a gangster,” Rockhold told TMZ Sports. “It’s all about confidence. It’s all about balls. He has it. He f*cking has it. I’m not going to lie. I can’t hate on the motherf*cker anymore. He’s one of the GOATs.”

“He carries the same mindset every f*cking time. He doesn’t have a ground game, but the motherf*cker’s got balls. No more hate. Alex, God bless. You’re a gangster. He’s one of the best champs of all time. Honestly, it’s impressive.”

Rockhold’s initial beef with Pereira came back at the end of Rockhold’s career, right when Pereira’s was taking off. Back in 2022, Rockhold has just retired from MMA, while Pereira was about to challenge Israel Adesanya for the middleweight title. Since then, Pereira has become a two-division champion, and now a two-time light heavyweight champion, all in just a few years time.

And while Rockhold’s time at the top was short-lived, he foresees plenty more for Poatan at the peak of the sport.

“Alex — there are people who are born to fight forever,” Rockhold said. “When I reached the top, when I was Strikeforce champ and then I finally got the UFC champ, it was like, ‘What’s next?’ There’s always something more. Then there’s a guy like Alex. He’s just a f*cking, he looks like the nastiest f*cking guy in the UFC.”

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Rockhold is destined to be a forgotten UFC champion because he had one of the shortest reigns ever and immediately fell off a cliff, but man, at his peak he really was a monster. To this day I think he had some of the most terrifying top control I’ve ever seen in the sport.

But yeah, Rockhold’s kryptonite was a left hand being thrown hard at his head. A fight between him and Pereira could only ever have ended one way.

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