UFC President Dana White and former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold aren’t currently on the best of terms at the moment.
Rockhold recently called for the UFC to create an interim title while Michael Bisping and Georges St-Pierre fought for the undisputed title, stating on The MMA Hour:
“The company is kind of losing it these days,” he continued. “I don’t know what happened to the old company where the best fought the best. That’s what built this company, now it’s just a spectator sport. They’re just putting freak shows together.”
“At least put an interim title on the line if [the champion’s] not gonna fight. He’s going to be inactive and not fight one contender in two years? What’s the point in being the champion?”
Dana White then fired back this past weekend at the UFC 211 post-fight press conference, after the UFC revealed that they wouldn’t wait for St-Pierre, saying:
“There’s a lot of guys talking about ‘deserve’ — nobody deserves anything. You’ve got to earn it here. You’ve got [Luke] Rockhold screaming right now ‘I deserve this’. You just got knocked out in the first round. You’ve got to come back and earn it.”
Rockhold then fired back on Twitter, saying:
@danawhite I never said I deserved a title shot. I said we (middleweights) deserve clarity. We deserve something to fight for.
— Luke Rockhold (@LukeRockhold) May 16, 2017
@danawhite "You have to earn your way in this company"? Tell me how did GSP earn a middleweight title shot? Think before you run your mouth
— Luke Rockhold (@LukeRockhold) May 16, 2017
White then responded on Twitter, saying:
@LukeRockhold pic.twitter.com/3buw7twqEv
— Dana White (@danawhite) May 16, 2017
Stay tuned for updates regarding this scenario, as well as Rockhold’s next fight, as they become available!
This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 5/16/2017.