BKFC president David Feldman doesn’t think Luke Rockhold is built for bareknuckle boxing.
Rockhold made his debut this past April against fellow UFC alum Mike Perry at BKFC 41. He was unable to continue after getting his tooth knocked out in the second round, losing the bout by TKO.
Feldman revealed that Rockhold has one more fight on his contract, but he won’t be offering him a matchup. He thinks he lacks the grit to thrive in BKFC.
“We have an option on a second fight with him, but we’re not going to exercise it,” Feldman told MMA Junkie. “We don’t want to. I certainly don’t want to, and I don’t know if he wants to after getting his teeth knocked out. This sport’s different.
“It’s not built for everybody, and we want someone that, if he does get his tooth knocked out – for instance, Britain Hart and Bec Rawlings, two women in our organization got their teeth knocked out and kept fighting and made it the distance. So he just doesn’t have that type of ‘it’ for BKFC that we needed, so we’re not going to exercise our right.”
Rockhold indicated he was done with BKFC, too. He appears interested in Karate Combat after making a guest appearance on one of their recent shows.
Feldman praised the former Strikeforce and UFC middleweight champion but just doesn’t see BKFC as a good fit for him.
“Good guy, great fighter, great accolades, did so many things in MMA, a legend,” Feldman continued. “I mean, awesome. Not taking anything away from his fighting ability, but I don’t think he’s a bareknuckle fighter.”
