Luke Rockhold is still fighting to get the respect he feels he deserves.
It's something he's been trying to do since his days in Strikeforce, where he fought great competition such as Ronaldo Souza to win the 185-pound title and defended it against tough foes such as Tim Kennedy.
But, since those bouts didn't take place inside the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Octagon, Rockhold says he didn't get the credit he deserved. And after winning four of five bouts under the UFC banner, Rockhold declared during the UFC 194 pre-fight press conference (video replay) earlier this afternoon that his aforementioned fights were tougher, including his most recent victory over Lyoto Machida.
Even though many have called his win over "The Dragon" the best of his career to date.
He explains:
"It feels good to be credited for your work and what you do and pride yourself on, of course. So for your accomplishments to be beaten down and made less of what they really were, of course I came in with a point to prove when I came here. I'm here now and I am here to make another point. People still look at my last win as my biggest one, they don't realize my fights with Tim Kennedy and Jacare, those guys were much tougher for me than anything I've faced thus far. I got nothing for that. So, one more point to prove, one more statement to make, it's going to come Saturday night."
And he may have a point, as Rockhold choked out Machida in round two at UFC on FOX 15 after having his way with the former Light Heavyweight champion before sealing the deal.
In contrast, Rockhold's grueling bouts against "Jacare" and Kennedy both went the full five rounds. Perhaps conveniently forgot about his knockout loss to Vitor Belfort two years ago, but "The Phenom" is always around to remind him.
Nevertheless, Rockhold will look to finally get his just due if he can manage to hand Chris Weidman his first-ever loss and dethrone him from the top if the 185-pound mountain when they collide in the co-main event of UFC 194, which is set to pop on Dec. 12, 2015, from MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada (details here).
In a somewhat ironic twist, Weidman is also searching for more respect, something he hopes to obtain with a win over Rockhold this weekend in "Sin City."