White: Rockhold has been offered fight vs. Sean Strickland

Luke Rockhold interacts with the media during the UFC 239 Ultimate Media Day at T-Mobile Arena on July 4, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. | Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Rockhold hasn’t fought since he was knocked out by Jan Blachowicz in 2019.

With Sean Strickland coming off an impressive main event win over Uriah Hall, his next opponent could very well be a former UFC middleweight champion.

In an interview with TSN’s Aaron Bronsteter, Dana White revealed that Luke Rockhold has been offered a fight against the #8 ranked contender.

Luke Rockhold has been offered Sean Strickland as his next opponent per Dana White.

— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) August 3, 2021

Rockhold (16-5) hasn’t fought since he was knocked out by Jan Blachowicz at UFC 239 in July 2019. His last middleweight fight was a KO loss to Yoel Romero at UFC 221 in 2018. You have to go back to 2017 for Rockhold’s most recent win, a second-round stoppage of David Branch at UFC Pittsburgh.

Strickland (24-3) has won five straight fights, with four of them coming at middleweight. His win over Hall was his first UFC main event and the first time he had gone the full 25 minutes since 2013.

There had been talk from Rockhold about walking away from MMA, but he’s an MMA fighter and therefore it was always highly unlikely to stick. He has expressed frustration over opponent selection, so hopefully this suits him.