Luke Rockhold calls Dana White ‘Tyrant', accuses him of trying to mentally beat him down

Luke Rockhold recently appeared on the ‘Rippin’ It’ Podcast where he labelled UFC president Dana White as a ‘tyrant’ for the way he manages his athletes. The 51-year-old recently made headlines after former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones expressed his outrage for not being paid fair for his upcoming title bout with heavyweight champ Francis Ngannou. Dana White took things further by saying that Jones is afraid of fighting Ngannou and is making various excuses to remove himself from the conversations.

UFC news: Rockhold slams Dana White

For Luke Rockhold, these bully-style negotiation tactics displayed by White in the past few days are nothing new. The former middleweight champion stated that following his title loss to Michael Bisping at UFC 199, Dana White tried to break him down mentally, but he stood firm and decided to take another path. “I was like I’m going to go do my own thing, if you’re going to try and offer me this and that bull–it, you know who I am and what I did, that’s the only reason I went out and got a modelling contract so I could leverage myself,” he added.

UFC news: Rockhold calls Dana White 'Tyrant'

While pointing out that UFC doesn’t have a governing body, Luke Rockhold revealed that the promotion is being run by “an egotistical guy that’s a bit of a tyrant”. He said he can’t understand why a guy like White, who has never fought in a cage, is trying to belittle all the fighters. Asking the UFC President to do his job, Luke Rockhold requested UFC to develop a governing body, who would play the “game right,” unlike Dana White.

What happened to Luke Rockhold?

After losing to Michael Bisping, Luke Rockhold fought David Branch at UFC Fight Night 116, winning via submission in the second round. However, he then faced two back-to-back defeats against Yoel Romero and Jan Blachowicz, respectively. The Blachowicz fight was also his light heavyweight debut after which he went on a two-year hiatus.

What happened to Luke Rockhold? Rockhold on MMA return

A couple of months ago, Rockhold underwent a shoulder surgery, which is now almost healed. Rockhold revealed that he’s currently pressing on getting in shape so that he could make his highly-anticipated return soon. Rockhold’s team are planning for a summer return, but it all depends on the 36-year-old’s health.

Image Source: Luke Rockhold/ Instagram, AP