Luke Rockhold has recently been very vocal when it comes to the way the UFC runs its business. Things like fighter pay and have been an issue for some time and Rockhold has not been afraid to speak on it.
He recently spoke with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour and discussed Francis Ngannou's situation. He felt it was an opportunity for change and Ngannou's friends Israel Adesanya and Kamaru Usman should have stepped up.
Article Continues Below“If they’re going to do that to Francis and then no one else [speaks up], his two brothers aren’t going to get behind him and sack up and be the men they should’ve been when he got shelved — you’ve got two Nigerian brothers, they’re champions, they should’ve just stood by him and been men, and maybe that could change the landscape,” Rockhold said to Ariel Helwani (transcription by Shaun Al-Shatti). “But that’s about it. I saw an opportunity there. That’s when I saw an opportunity. Other than that, you need 25 [big-name] guys. Twenty-five guys aren’t coming together. Maybe more, I don’t know, maybe less. Maybe give or take. That shit ain’t going to happen.”
Luke Rockhold saw an opportunity there if the three champions had come together and forced some sort of change. Many have been asking for a ‘Fighters Union' but it can only come if the biggest names in the sport band together.
Rockhold felt like Adesanya and Usman should have come out in support of Ngannou and led the fight for change with this opportunity. It didn't happen though and Rockhold was very critical of the pair.
“That was the only thing that I saw that actually could’ve leveled the playing field and changed things for the better,” Rockhold continued. “When you fuck with Francis and you’ve got this three amigos Nigerian brotherhood, if those two would’ve stood up, they could’ve fucked. They could’ve fucked deep and hard. But the two didn’t step up.”