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Luke Rockhold hopes to resume training in two weeks, wants Francis Carmont or Costas Philippou in UFC return

Luke Rockhold was supposed to fight at this weekend's UFC 166 event, but instead he is recuperating from an injury suffered during training camp. On this week's edition of UFC Tonight, Rockhold's recovery timetable was revealed, as well as who he hopes to fight next.

Scott Olmos-US PRESSWIRE

Following last month's UFC 165 event in Toronto and the dreadful fight featuring Francis Carmont vs. Constantinos Philippou, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President Dana White took to Twitter to voice his displeasure with the outcome of the scrap, which saw Carmont smother Philippou for the entire 15 minutes inside the Octagon, completely nullifying his dangerous striking game and resulting in another decision victory for Carmont.

Whether the fight frustrated Luke Rockhold as much as it did White is uncertain, but what the former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion is asking for following a full recovery from an undisclosed injury, one that took him out of his fight at UFC 166 against Tim Boetsch, is much clearer.

Last Wednesday on "UFC Tonight," news dropped that Rockhold hopes to resume training in as little as two weeks, and when he is fully ready to fight again, he wants his return bout to be against Carmont at UFC 168, but if he can't have him, he'll settle for Philippou.

The fights Rockhold (10-2) are requesting make sense, especially against "Limitless," who is on a six-fight win streak in UFC, 11 total, but hasn't exactly brought down the house in the process. Some will probably argue Philippou makes more sense, as both he and Rockhold are coming off a loss, and Carmont deserves a top 10 opponent.

Let's leave that one up to Joe Silva.

Rockhold is familiar with winning streaks of his own, as he was on a nine-fight run prior to being knocked out by Vitor Belfort via spinning heel kick )and punches) at UFC on FX 8. The loss for Rockhold was so rare, the result had some mixed martial arts (MMA) fans crying conspiracy.

Are these potential match-ups something you would be interested in watching? Or does the thought of Carmont getting in the Octagon against anyone, let alone Rockhold, make you queasy?

Speak on it.


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