‘I’ll never close the door’ — Rockhold hints at comeback ‘one, two, three years down the line’

Well, that didn’t last long.

Luke Rockhold is just two weeks into retirement, but the former UFC and Strikeforce middleweight titleholder is already talking about a possible comeback ‘one, two, three years down the line’, so don’t count him out just yet.

Rockhold suffered a grueling decision loss to Costa in the UFC 278 main event and hinted at and later confirmed his retirement following the fight. But he’ll never close the door on MMA for good, indicating that he could make a comeback despite his body notably deteriorating with age.

“Sometimes, I struggle back and forth thinking how I’m going to approach this but too many people hide behind their words, not how they really feel,” Rockhold, who looked notably fatigued against Costa, said in a video uploaded to The Mac Life (h/t Low Kick MMA). “I want to retire, I want to work on life like I did a fraction of my break. I want to get my body together, my health together. Health is wealth, ultimately. My body’s deteriorating and fighting doesn’t help that. I want to get my body back but I’ll never close the door.”

“Once I get my health fully back, I get my body where I want, and I start performing and not hurting myself, maybe make another run at this thing. One, two, three years down the line. I honestly feel like I’m only getting better. The way I’m treating my body changing the game. Take out alcohol from your life for the most part, considerably, at least for the heavier sh*t, and see how far your life goes.”

Rockhold put on a gutsy performance against Costa, landing 51 out of 70 significant strikes and taking the fight to his opponent despite looking notably exhausted after breaking his nose in the first round.

Rockhold retired with a professional record of 16-6 (6-5 UFC) and will be remembered as one of the greatest middleweights in the history of the sport.