After he courted Luke Rockhold, Scott Coker enormously surprised ex-UFC champ signed with BKFC
March 15, 2023 9:30 am ET
SAN JOSE, Calif. – Scott Coker made a play for his friend Luke Rockhold’s providers once all once more, nonetheless for now the old champ has gone a completely different route.
Coker had Rockhold as allotment of his middleweight roster in Strikeforce from 2008-2012, and the Bay Space native gained the title in 2011. He defended it twice in 2012 sooner than he went to the UFC after Strikeforce used to be dissolved.
Rockhold went on to take care of the UFC’s middleweight title, though he misplaced it in his first tried protection. Rockhold stepped away from the game for more than three years sooner than he returned this past August at UFC 278, where he misplaced a Fight of the Evening resolution to Paulo Costa.
Rockhold announced his retirement after the fight and used to be launched from his UFC deal. Nonetheless already, he wished to scratch his competitive itch. Coker stated he had a conversation with Rockhold about coming to Bellator – and idea the promotion used to be in the working.
“Luke and I had an excellent conversation in L.A. right by design of the Fedor fight,” Coker stated at the Bellator 292 post-fight files conference this past Friday in San Jose, Calif. “We had an excellent conversation and we were going to proceed our dialogue and I was hopeful that we would at the least beget one other conversation to gaze if there used to be something to be performed.”
As a replacement, Rockhold signed a deal to fight fellow old UFC fighter Mike Perry in a bareknuckle boxing match at BKFC 41 on April 29 in Denver.
It didn’t appear take care of Coker has any tense feelings, even if he would’ve loved to take care of the Rockhold lottery that few of us idea would be up for grabs so soon.
“It appears to be like take care of they bought a extraordinarily correct provide from Bareknuckle, and I don’t blame him,” Coker stated. “He’s a prize fighter and he’s going to switch fight. He’s bought to feed his family and clutch care of himself. So as that’s what labored out. Let’s gaze what happens. To me, it used to be somewhat little bit of shock. Nonetheless it is a industry. Friendship apart, Luke and I will shuffle and play golf and lollygag around and beget lunch and be boys, nonetheless it is a industry.”
