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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Despite his setback loss to Vitor Belfort in his UFC debut, Luke Rockhold has been fairly excellent over the last several years of his career. He's prepping for a massive fight with former UFC Light Heavyweight Champ Lyoto Machida next month, and during the UFC's recent "Welcome to the Show" press conference, he explained why he feels superior to Machida into that UFC on Fox 15 matchup.
"This is what it is. People can talk, but there's nothing left after this for me except for the title," Rockhold said (via MMAJunkie.com). "... I think I'm better than him everywhere. It's a different stylistic matchup. He hasn't fought a southpaw like me that can hit hard like me, kick hard, kick with him, punch with him - I can do everything, and I believe I can do everything better."
Rockhold's confidence doesn't stop there, though, as the final Strikeforce Middleweight Champ believes he's as good as it gets in the sport right now.
"I know what I want, and I believe it's ahead of me," Rockhold said. "I believe I'm the best fighter in the world."
Penick's Analysis: There are a lot of times where fighters make comments like this that it comes off as laughable or delusional at best. While he's not proven he's there yet, it's not out of the realm of possibility for Rockhold to establish himself on that level. The Belfort loss certainly doesn't help his argument, but if he gets a chance to avenge that loss, he'll have as good a chance as any would to do so. Rockhold is a fantastic middleweight right now, and if he beats Lyoto Machida, he's going to be a tough challenger to either Belfort or Chris Weidman. He's not the best fighter in the world at this moment, but it wouldn't be a complete surprise to see him take that spot by force within a few years.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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