Many fans were disappointed to hear the news on Wednesday that the Luke Rockhold vs. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza UFC Fight Night 101 main event bout was canceled due to Rockhold suffering an injury, which was first reported by Ariel Helwani for MMA Fighting.
The two were supposed to meet in a rematch in Melbourne, Australia at Rod Laver Arena on November 26. The two first fought in Strikeforce for Souza’s middleweight title back in 2011 where Rockhold won a unanimous decision where many thought the fight could have gone either way.
Rockhold released a short statement on social media regarding his injury.
“Right now there is nothing I want more than to get back into the cage and do what I love most. Unfortunately, due to an injury to my left knee I had to withdraw from the fight. I apologize to the @UFC @JacareMMA and most importantly to the fans. I will be back better than ever in pursuit of the belt.”
Rockhold is coming off one of the most devastating losses of his career, losing his UFC middleweight title to Michael Bisping at UFC 199 by knockout in the first round. Rockhold’s only other UFC loss was in his UFC debut where he was knocked out by Vitor Belfort at UFC on FX 8 in 2013. Prior to the bout with Bisping, Rockhold beat Chris Weidman at UFC 194 to get his first UFC title. Rockhold was on a five-fight UFC winning streak where he finished all five opponents before his competition against Bisping.
Souza’s last fight was at UFC 198 where the Brazilian picked up a first round TKO victory over Vitor Belfort. Prior to the fight against Belfort, Souza lost a close fight against Yoel Romero at UFC 194 where Romero was given a split decision win by the judges. Before the loss to Romero, Souza was on an eight-fight winning streak where he stacked up wins in Strikeforce and the UFC. His loss before the eight-fight winning streak started was in his bout against Rockhold back in 2011.
