Ex-UFC Middleweight Champ Luke Rockhold Wants Showdown with Fabricio Werdum

With the return of Georges St. Pierre drawing near, Luke Rockhold is well aware that the middleweight division will be on hold for a while.

The UFC has already announced that St. Pierre will challenge reigning 185-pound champ Michael Bisping at a late date. Exactly when that fight is booked remains to be seen, although UFC President Dana White has already said that it would ideally take place in the summer.

With that in mind, Rockhold, who lost the middleweight title to Bisping at UFC 199, has his sights set on potential money fight of his own, and it’s one that goes back to his days competing under the Strikeforce banner.

“Everyone’s steaming over this new fight I brought up. I think me and [Fabricio] Werdum got some old beef from Strikeforce. He’s a guy I’ve always wanted to fight. I’ve thought it through and I like the style matchup,” Rockhold said on UFC Tonight. “Given what’s going on in the middleweight division right now, screw that, I’m coming to heavyweight. Let’s do this.”

Rockhold hasn’t competed since suffering the surprise first-round knockout loss to Bisping this past June. He was scheduled to face Ronaldo Souza in November, but he had to withdraw from that bout due to a knee injury. The American Kickboxing Academy product isn’t planning on making a long term move to heavyweight, but he at least seems serious about the prospect of facing Werdum.

“I don’t know if I’ll dance around too long [at heavyweight]. It’s a fight I really want and I think it makes a lot of sense,” Rockhold said. “We can settle that.They’re into making money fights right? They want to make a money fight, sell some tickets — let’s do this thing.”