Good to be back with my gangsters - Luke Rockhold thrilled to be back training with Khabib Nurmagomedov, shares videos of the pair's amusing grappling exchanges
Luke Rockhold has asserted that he’s excited to be back training with former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. Rockhold, a former UFC middleweight champion, recently returned to the AKA (American Kickboxing Academy) gym and trained with Nurmagomedov, partaking in grueling grappling exchanges.
For several years, Rockhold trained at AKA with the likes of Nurmagomedov, Daniel Cormier, Cain Velasquez, Josh Thomson, and others. However, in recent years, Rockhold has spent a considerable amount of time training at the RVCA gym in Costa Mesa, California.
That said, the former middleweight kingpin has now indicated that he’s thrilled to return to AKA and train with retired MMA great, Dagestani grappling savant Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Rockhold has taken to his official Instagram account and put forth photos and videos of himself alongside ‘The Eagle’ and a few others at the AKA gym in San Jose, California. In his Instagram post, the 37-year-old notably tagged the AKA Instagram account, as well as the accounts of Khabib Nurmagomedov, Umar Nurmagomedov, Usman Nurmagomedov, Deron Winn, and Michael Mardones.
The two videos in the post feature Rockhold being controlled by Nurmagomedov and trying to escape, only to be caught and once again controlled by ‘The Eagle.’ Rockhold attached a statement to his Instagram post that read as follows:
“Good be back @americankickboxingacademy with my gangsters @khabib_nurmagomedov @akajav @umar_nurmagomedov @usman_nurmagomedov @deron_winn @layziethesavage.”
Luke Rockhold believes Paulo Costa and his team are delaying their much-awaited fight
Luke Rockhold is coming off a second-round KO loss against Jan Blachowicz in a light heavyweight bout at UFC 239 in July 2019. The Paulo Costa matchup would mark Rockhold’s return to the middleweight division and will be his first fight back since his loss to Blachowicz.
Rockhold was expected to face Costa in a middleweight bout at UFC 276 on July 2nd. Nevertheless, it was later revealed that the bout would likely transpire at UFC 277 on July 30th. On that note, Rockhold recently spoke to The Schmo and alleged that Costa and his team are trying to postpone the fight.
Luke Rockhold suggested that their fight is likely to take place in August. The consensus is that their fight could be featured on the UFC 278 fight card on August 20th. Jibing at Paulo Costa ahead of their highly-anticipated fight, Rockhold said:
“There’s always been questions. It was July 2nd. It was July 30th. Now, this bi**h is trying to move it to f**king August. I’m sick. I’m tired of just f**king, this sh**. But I really wanna beat that f**ker’s a**, so we’re going to August. It is.”
Watch Rockhold’s conversation with The Schmo in the video below: