Michael Bisping Predicts Luke Rockhold Will ‘Disappear’ Following Loss at UFC 221

Luke Rockhold didn’t get his desired result on Saturday night after suffering a brutal third round knockout to Yoel Romero in the main event at UFC 221.

If Rockhold was victorious, he would have been crowned interim middleweight champion with a title unification bout against fellow champion Robert Whittaker set up for later this year.

Instead, Rockhold suffered his second knockout loss in his past three fights after losing the middleweight title to Michael Bisping in 2016.

Rockhold has largely been inactive following that fight with Bisping, only competing three times since winning the title in late 2016 with a TKO victory against former champion Chris Weidman. Injuries played a part in Rockhold’s absence from the sport but how will he react following this latest setback that undoubtedly puts him out of the title picture for the time being?

“You’ve got to remember, when I beat [Luke] Rockhold, he kind of disappeared for a while and he looked very, very upset,” Bisping said about his former opponent when addressing his future on Saturday night. “Of course, Luke is an amazing fighter and feels like he should be champion. He lost that tonight.

“I think he’s going to go away from the sport for a little while. I don’t mean retire but disappear from the public eye. Take six months off and reset.”

Rockhold had teased prior to the fight with Romero that he planned on moving to the light heavyweight division in the future and this loss may very well speed up those plans.

Then again, Rockhold may have suffered a loss on Saturday night but he will still be ranked in the top five at 185 pounds with a long list of potential opponents to fight that would get him right back into title contention.

It’s tough to predict what Rockhold will do, especially as he continues to pursue work outside the Octagon including a lucrative career in modeling.

For now let the speculation begin on what comes next for Rockhold as he looks to bounce back following his loss to Romero this past weekend.