Luke Rockhold is going to be a busy man. The former UFC middleweight champion announced two big deals this week and they are both pretty darn cool.
First, on Tuesday it was announced that Rockhold and former UFC champion Tyron Woodley would be coaching a reality-based MMA show, similar to The Ultimate Fighter. The show will be for a new promotion, Hardcore FC, called HFC Fight Show which films over six weeks in the United Arab Emirates. According to MMA Fighting, unlike with TUF, the coaches will not fight each other at the end of the show.
But that's just one of the two big announcements involving Rockhold.
On Wednesday he shared a flyer to his Instagram announcing he'd signed on to fight at Karate Combate 45 on April 20 versus Joe Schilling. "Double dipping in Dubai, see you soon Joe," he wrote. That post has since bee deleted.
Rockhold left the UFC in August 2022 and signed with Bare Knuckle FC. He lost to Mike Perry in his April 2023 debut and hasn't competed since. Schilling hasn't competed since 2019 when he lost via knockout to Tony Johnson at Bellator.
Both the fight and the television show will occur in the UAE and it's nice to see Rockhold staying busy and active abroad.
In 2023 Schilling was cleared by the courts after he was caught on video punching and knocking out an unruly man at a bar. The incident initially took place in 2021 but took years to close in a Florida court finally. The court determined that Schilling was acting in self-defense
"Florida law protects those who are forced to protect themselves and their loved ones, and our law firm is here to make sure those who are forced to defend themselves do not suffer further in our legal system either by wrongful arrest or wrongful civil actions such as this case," Schilling's lawyer said after the verdict was reached.
Its unclear if the case is the reason for his break from competition but it's nice to see the experienced kickboxer back now.