Luke Rockhold Says His New UFC Contract Is Better Than Before

In an interview with Submission Radio, Luke Rockhold revealed that his new contract with the UFC is better than before, but there was still room for improvement. After he lost the UFC middleweight title, his contract was restructured and at the time he was quoted as saying “they money is bullshit.” Now it seems as though he’s happier. Here are highlights:

On negotiating with the UFC: “They’re gonna play hardball with some people,” Rockhold told Submission Radio about his contract being resolved relatively quick. “Some people don’t have a leg to stand on, I guess surprisingly enough. I know Weidman has his own issues too. A lot of people thought they’ll follow suit, I guess, after seeing what did – it didn’t work out for some of them. I think it depends on knowing what your worth is, knowing what you’re capable of and how far you can push. There’s another league, they have good money, that is an option for some people. For me, it’s gotta make sense. Dollars make sense. And so if the dollars aren’t up to par, then what’s the point? For me, I’ve put my time in this sport. I think I’ve earned my reputation and I have a leg to stand on when I make a demand like that.”

On his new contract: “My contract, I’d done up early on and I was informed that I’d be taken care of if I held up my part of the bargain. I think signing that contract before Machida, beating a champion in Machida decisively, putting him away and putting away Chris Weidman — you know, making a hiccup in Bisping shouldn’t set me back to where I was. And so I had told them how I felt about it and so we moved in a better direction, but I think there’s still a lot of improvement to make.”

On if he would try to negotiate a better contract after UFC’s Melbourne event: “That all depends on who I fight and what happens. So I mean, if I beat Jacare, if that title fight isn’t waiting for me at my doorstep, well I’m sure we’ll talk.”