Former UFC champion Luke Rockhold cracks tooth in bare knuckle boxing match

Rockhold asked the referee to stop his fight with Mike Perry, leading to a TKO loss

Alex Pattle
Combat Sports Correspondent
Monday 01 May 2023 11:30 BST
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Former UFC champion shows off broken tooth after bare-knuckle match

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Luke Rockhold took to social media on Sunday to show off the broken tooth that he sustained during a bare knuckle boxing match at the weekend.

On Saturday night, Rockhold suffered a TKO loss to fellow former UFC star Mike Perry, asking the referee to stop the fight while motioning to his own mouth.

Rockhold, a former middleweight champion in the UFC, then revealed his injury in an Instagram video on Sunday.

The American, 38, said: “Well, f***. What can I say? You can check bare knuckle off the list. It’s some crazy s***.

“Those little knuckles got me, square on the front two [teeth]. Maybe a beard, maybe a better mouthpiece [would have helped]. It was a good fight. It’s a shame it had to end that way [...] Mike, you tough b*****d, congrats.

“I’m not done. Some gloves would be nice, though.”

Rockhold left the UFC in August, retiring from mixed martial arts after a points loss to Paulo Costa.

That fight was Rockhold’s first in three years and marked his third straight loss.

Rockhold won the UFC middleweight title with a TKO of Chris Weidman in 2015 before losing the belt to Michael Bisping via knockout in 2016.

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