Former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold scored a knockout victory over Joe Schilling at today’s Karate Combat event.
Karate Combat 45 took place earlier this evening in Dubai and was headlined by an intriguing matchup between Rockhold and Schilling.
Luke Rockhold (16-6 MMA, 0-1 BKFC) had entered the bout looking to pick up his first combat sports win since September of 2017, when he defeated David Branch via TKO at UFC Pittsburgh. Following that victory, ‘Rocky’ went on to drop three straight fights inside the Octagon. He would later square off with Mike Perry under the BKFC banner in April of last year but wound-up quitting in the fight after losing some of his teeth (see that here).
Standing in the path of Rockhold’s return to glory was former Glory middleweight tournament champion Joe Schilling. ‘Stich ’em Up’ (4-6 MMA, 23-9 Kickboxing) was returning to action for the first time since being knocked out by Tony Johnson at Bellator 229 in October of 2019.
Tonight’s ‘Rockhold vs. Schilling’ bout resulted in a third-round knockout victory for the former UFC middleweight champion. ‘Rocky’ connected with a big overhand right that sent Joe crashing the canvas. He quickly followed up with some nasty ground and pound to close out the contest.
Official Karate Combat 45 Result: Luke Rockhold def. Joe Schilling via KO in Round 3
Check out footage of Rockhold’s knockout victory below:
Luke Rockhold beats Joe Schilling pic.twitter.com/l1nPplxkIp
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) April 20, 2024
Clean right hook from Luke Rockhold to finish Schilling, followed by some GNP #KC45 pic.twitter.com/HrcdEW0gT4
— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) April 20, 2024
Immediately following his win, Luke Rockhold proceeded to callout fellow former UFC champion Lyoto Machida:
“There’s only one man I want to fight in this pit, and that’s Lyoto Machida,” Rockhold said in his post-fight interview (h/t MMAJunkie). “You’re lucky because they don’t allow elbows, so no more nightmares about the elbows. Bring it. Let’s see what you got, let’s see what the paychecks look like, bring out that check book. Lyoto, I know you need a pay-day motherf**ker, come get it.”
Would you like to see a fight between Luke Rockhold and Lyoto Machida under the Karate Combat banner? Who do you think would emerge victorious?
