{"id":51879,"date":"2022-08-21T10:54:34","date_gmt":"2022-08-21T10:54:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/paulo-costa-decisions-luke-rockhold-in-bloody-brawl-ex-champ-retires\/"},"modified":"2022-08-21T10:54:34","modified_gmt":"2022-08-21T10:54:34","slug":"paulo-costa-decisions-luke-rockhold-in-bloody-brawl-ex-champ-retires","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/paulo-costa-decisions-luke-rockhold-in-bloody-brawl-ex-champ-retires\/","title":{"rendered":"Paulo Costa decisions Luke Rockhold in bloody brawl, ex-champ retires"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Paulo Costa and Luke Rockhold delivered a wild, wild West-style bar brawl in the co-main event of UFC 278 Saturday at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City.<\/p>\n<p>The men were both exhausted and covered with blood \u2014 most of it Rockhold&#8217;s \u2014 as the bout wound to a conclusion.  Costa had Rockhold&#8217;s back and was going for a rear naked choke.<\/p>\n<p>With about 20 seconds left, Rockhold reversed position and then began rubbing the blood that was on his face into Costa&#8217;s face.  The crowd went wild when a replay was shown on the video boards inside the arena, but it was just one crazy moment in a wild fight.<\/p>\n<p>Costa won by 30-27 scores on all three cards in a fight in which the men just clubbed each other repeatedly with kicks and punches.  Rockhold spent the last half of the fight mainly hanging against the cage because he was so tired, but he&#8217;d throw a kick or a punch every so often that would hurt Costa.<\/p>\n<p>When it was over, Rockhold removed his gloves.  He embraced UFC broadcast analyst Joe Rogan, who was interviewing him, and bear-hugged him.  He kissed Rogan on the top of his head and left his blood all over Rogan&#8217;s white shirt.<\/p>\n<p>He was emotional because the former Strikeforce and UFC middleweight champion had decided to retire.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI can&#8217;t do this s*** anymore,\u201d the 37-year-old Rockhold, who hadn&#8217;t fought since losing to Jan Blachowicz at UFC 239 in 2019, said to Rogan.  \u201cI gave it my all, but I&#8217;m f***ing old.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>[<\/em><\/strong><strong><em>It&#8217;s fantasy football season: Create or join a league now!<\/em><\/strong><strong><em>]<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>When Rockhold left the cage, his former teammate and close friend, Daniel Cormier, left the broadcast booth and embraced Rockhold.  As Rockhold made his way to the locker room, he was greeted by fighters Marlon \u201cChito\u201d Vera, Jalin Turner, fight manager Ali Abdelaziz and many others.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"caas-figure\">\n<div class=\"caas-figure-with-pb\" style=\"max-height: 640px\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"caas-img-container caas-img-loader\" style=\"padding-bottom:67%;\"><noscript><img alt=\"SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH - AUGUST 20: (LR) Paulo Costa of Brazil punches Luke Rockhold in a middleweight fight during the UFC 278 event at Vivint Arena on August 20, 2022 in Salt Lake City, Utah.  (Photo by Josh Hedges\/Zuffa LLC)\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/L09GUDsqKKFTwH.wSrEdyA--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTY0MA--\/https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/os\/creatr-uploaded-images\/2022-08\/845b8a00-2108-11ed-a7fe-2917f402de06\" class=\"caas-img\"\/><\/noscript><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><figcaption class=\"caption-collapse\">(LR) Paulo Costa of Brazil punches Luke Rockhold in a middleweight fight during the UFC 278 event at Vivint Arena on Aug.  20, 2022, in Salt Lake City.  (Photo by Josh Hedges\/Zuffa LLC)<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Paulo Costa and Luke Rockhold delivered a wild, wild West-style bar brawl in the co-main event of UFC 278 Saturday at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City. The men were both exhausted and covered with blood \u2014 most of it Rockhold&#8217;s \u2014 as the bout wound to a conclusion. Costa had Rockhold&#8217;s back and was &hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"> <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/paulo-costa-decisions-luke-rockhold-in-bloody-brawl-ex-champ-retires\/\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Paulo Costa decisions Luke Rockhold in bloody brawl, ex-champ retires<\/span> Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":54508,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/former-champ-luke-rockhold-notifies-ufc-of-retirement\/","url_meta":{"origin":51879,"position":0},"title":"Former champ Luke Rockhold notifies UFC of retirement","date":"August 24, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Luke Rockhold didn't lay his gloves on the canvas after his UFC 278 loss, but he has notified the UFC of his retirement from the sport. MMA Fighting on Tuesday confirmed Rockhold's notification with a UFC official after the algorithm-based Twitter account UFC Roster Watch posted of Rockhold's removal from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":56798,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/luke-rockhold-explains-face-to-face-blood-smear-on-paulo-costa-i-was-in-there-with-a-lesser-man\/","url_meta":{"origin":51879,"position":1},"title":"Luke Rockhold explains face-to-face blood smear on Paulo Costa: &#8216;I was in there with a lesser man&#8217;","date":"August 26, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Luke Rockhold's last fight of his mixed martial arts (MMA) career is one fans definitely won't forget. At UFC 278 this past weekend (Aug. 20, 2022) in Salt Lake City, Utah, the co-main featured two Middleweights with some bad blood between each other. The returning former champion, Rockhold, found himself\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":51699,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/luke-rockhold-loses-to-paulo-costa-says-hes-done\/","url_meta":{"origin":51879,"position":2},"title":"Luke Rockhold loses to Paulo Costa, says he&#8217;s done","date":"August 21, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Luke Rockhold may not have had the gas tank Saturday in Salt Lake City \u2013 but he certainly had the heart. In the UFC 278 middleweight co-main event, Rockhold (16-6 MMA, 6-5 UFC) lost to Paulo Costa (14-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30) -27) at Vivint\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mmajunkie.usatoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/91\/2022\/08\/paulo-costa-luke-rockhold-ufc-278-getty.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":54406,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/daniel-cormier-praises-luke-rockhold-for-fairytale-ending-to-his-career-as-the-last-of-the-four-kings-retires\/","url_meta":{"origin":51879,"position":3},"title":"Daniel Cormier praises Luke Rockhold for &#8216;fairytale ending&#8217; to his career as the last of the &#8216;four kings&#8217; retires","date":"August 24, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Luke Rockhold set foot in the octagon for the last time at UFC 278 after an epic war with Paulo Costa that ended with the one-time middleweight champion dropping a unanimous decision and then announcing his retirement afterwards. UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier, who counts Rockhold as one of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":50676,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/dana-white-responds-to-luke-rockholds-ufc-healtchare-grievance\/","url_meta":{"origin":51879,"position":4},"title":"Dana White responds to Luke Rockhold&#8217;s UFC healtchare grievance","date":"August 20, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Ahead of UFC 278, former middleweight champion Luke Rockhold had plenty of critical things to say about the promotion. A disgruntled former middleweight champion took the microphone in Salt Lake City to air a list of grievances about how things are being run today in the UFC. Rockhold hit on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mmajunkie.usatoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/91\/2022\/08\/luke-rockhold-demi-lovato-ufc-205.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":51679,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/weirdest-fight-ive-ever-seen-fighters-react-to-paulo-costa-and-luke-rockholds-war-rockhold-retirement\/","url_meta":{"origin":51879,"position":5},"title":"&#8216;Weirdest fight I&#8217;ve ever seen&#8217;: Fighters react to Paulo Costa and Luke Rockhold&#8217;s war, Rockhold retirement","date":"August 21, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Paulo Costa and Luke Rockhold went to war for three rounds, and Costa swept the scorecards after three rounds. But Rockhold's gutsy performance, which may have been his last, won over the crowd. Battered and exhausted from the end of the first round, Rockhold stayed in the octagon when his\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/sArQn8RAP9yZc1LkPXyjNA--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyMDA7aD04MDA-\/https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/os\/creatr-uploaded-images\/2022-08\/845b8a00-2108-11ed-a7fe-2917f402de06","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51879"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51879"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51879\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}