Yesterday afternoon, former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold appeared on The MMA Hour to discuss his August 16 fight with former two-division World Series of Fighting champ David Branch. During his interview, Rockhold explained that Branch was simply the only option remaining after he tried and failed to lock down a bevy of other fights.
“I’ve tried to get everybody I could possibly think about to get a fight that really got me up, but no one would take a fight,” Rockhold said (h/t MMAFighting.com). “And now we’ve come down to David Branch (who) was the only guy in the top 10 that would take a fight. From June to July to August to September, and it’s time.”
Needless to say, Branch was not Rockhold’s first choice. In fact, he was not even near the top of the list.
“In June it was Anderson Silva in Rio, he wouldn’t take the fight. Then they moved onto Gegard Mousasi, couldn’t get him to sign the fight. I mean, I went to 205, to Shogun (Rua), to try to get (Fabricio) Werdum (at heavyweight).”
These comments from Rockhold prompted a response from Branch, who went off in a video posted to Twitter. See this profanity riddled video below.
#Lucas @LukeRockhold on punk ass @arielhelwani show talkin that nonsense… Yeah aight. I’ll see you in my office👊🏽 I get the chicken 🐓🏃🏽🎯👊🏽 pic.twitter.com/v1MyFK5UzF
— David Branch (@DavidcBranchMMA) August 7, 2017
“You Lucas, man,” Branch said. “What the fuck is you talking man? I heard your little punk ass fuckin’ interview on Ariel Helwani. Self doubt? Motherfucker, what the fuck is you talking about? I haven’t lost a fight in five mother fuckin’ years. You can’t box, and you ain’t got no fuckin’ chin. You’re getting in the motherfuckin’ cage with me? Are you stupid?”
Rockhold then issued a response to Branch, criticizing his accessory choices.
wtf are u doin in barber chair w/ a bib a beanie, hiding behind those cheap ass sunglasses. U will do nothing
— Luke Rockhold (@LukeRockhold) August 8, 2017
Who do you think wins this David Branch vs. Luke Rockhold fight?
This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 8/8/2017.