At Vivint Arena, Luke Rockhold (16-6 MMA, 6-5 UFC) was defeated by Paulo Costa (14-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) in the middleweight co-main event of UFC 278.
Each man’s heart was on full show during the blood and guts match. Rockhold, who was visibly upset when Costa was declared the winner, said the battle was probably going to be his last.
Prior to UFC 278 Rockhold, 37, hadn’t fought in just over three years and hadn’t claimed a victory in five. If UFC 278 ends up being his final fight, he will have suffered four defeats in his previous five contests.
Rockhold, a former champion in the Strikeforce and UFC, played a significant role in the growth of the American Kickboxing Academy (AKA).
Despite only having fought three times in that time, Costa’s victory is his first in three years. He had just suffered consecutive defeats to Israel Adesanya and Marvin Vettori when he entered UFC.
The bout was Rockhold’s first in three years, and it brought his losing streak to three. In September 2017, he defeated David Branch by TKO to earn his most recent victory. Since then, he has suffered knockout losses in each of his last four fights.
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