Luke Rockhold on Jake Paul: “He’s not a real fighter. He’s a tough kid”

Former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold shared his thought on the latest sensation in combat sports and especially in the boxing world, Jake Paul. He is coming off a decision win over former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley. The duo went at it in a boxing match under the Showtime banner. After getting the win, Jake Paul moved to 4-0 as a Pro Boxer. Now he has two notable names under his record as he defeated Ben Askren and Tyron Woodley. Even after having won over two MMA fighters, many people don’t consider him as a real deal and one of those people is Luke Rockhold.

Speaking to DC & RC, Rockhold shared his view on Jake Paul being a boxer. He said he feels Jake is just a tough kid but he is not a real fighter.

“Jake’s tough. Real in what sense? Real, he’s not a professional boxer. He’s a tough kid, and he showed he can withstand and take some shots and keep going,” Rockhold said (h/t MiddleEasy). “If anything, he’s a decent boxer. Fighting’s different. Boxing is not fighting, we all have to identify that. You put on gloves onto two guys, to dumb down their version of combative skills to overcome each other, to perform. Boxing is not fighting. Boxing is a performance, it’s a dumbed-down version of fighting. He’s not a real fighter, no he’s not a real fighter. If he wants to be a real fighter he can step in the game with four-ounce gloves and we can do business, but that’s not the case.”

Luke Rockhold’s comeback fight

After announcing retirement in 2020, Luke has now finally decided to come back out of it and fight in the UFC’s middleweight division. In his last fight, he lost to Jan Blachowicz by a vicious knockout. Now in his comeback fight, he has to go through a tough middleweight contender in Sean Strickland.

Luke in an interview talked about Sean and stated that he is a very good fighter who doesn’t know to quit but Rockhold plans to make him quit inside the octagon.

“As stupid as he looks and as stupid as he sounds, he’s effective,” Rockhold told MMA Junkie Radio. “Probably because he’s so stupid. He just comes forward, he’s got confidence in himself, and he doesn’t question it, and that’s dangerous, for sure. I think he’s somewhat one-dimensional, and being able to expose that is key. He’s just tough – tough and confident. That’s a big problem for a lot of people, so you’ve got to take that confidence from him.”

“You’ve got to put him in positions he’s not comfortable with and finish it. I think he’s average everywhere. He’s hasn’t got a great ground game. He doesn’t have great wrestling. Decent boxing. He doesn’t kick much, but he’s tough. He’s tough, and he’s not going to take no for an answer kind of thing. He doesn’t have quit in him. You’ve got to make him quit.”

In his comeback fight, Luke Rockhold is set to face Sean Strickland at UFC 268 on November 6.

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