Luke Rockhold’s post-UFC journey continues with a foray into the Karate Combat pit.
Former UFC and Strikeforce middleweight champion Rockhold has signed a contract with Karate Combat and will make his debut at Karate Combat 45 on April 20 in Dubai against former GLORY and Bellator veteran Joe Schilling.
Both athletes announced the booking on Wednesday. No weight class was revealed for the contest.
Rockhold, 39, parted ways with the UFC following a loss in his final promotional appearance in August 2022. He then signed with BKFC and suffered a second-round TKO loss to Mike Perry in April 2023. He was also scheduled for a grappling match with Craig Jones this past fall, but it was canceled. Now he joins Karate Combat, where he can put his always-dangerous striking to full use.
He will take on Schilling, 40, who hasn’t seen combat sports action since October 2019 when he suffered a knockout loss to Tony Johnson under the Bellator banner. Schilling has been scheduled in a pair of combat sports bouts since then, but none of them have come to fruition.
INsane matchup
BUMPPP 420
Shilling 1st Rd ko
Can we get Hisaki Kato - Schilling 3 in KC if Joe wins???
What a great match up this is though for KC45.
Schillings gonna hurt him
Luke will give it to him.
Schilling has resorted to sucker punching drunks in his job as a busser.
Luke has been fighting and training with the best.
Hmmmm
Not so sure.
Recent rule changes in the pit allowing for more ground strikes and time favors Luke
But Schilling could rip him apart quick on the feet if he shows up in shape and ready.
Also while Joe has been having some drunken mishaps lol…
Luke has been modeling lol.
Making money no doubt but…modeling lol
Joe’s best win in years.
Is melvin Manhoef?
And he just twiddled away in a sense while winning in Bellator KB calling for a title shot the whole time.
He went 4-0 it was a good run, but seemingly a bit forgotten…
Maube its just me. Im lit.
Why they didnt book Schilling - Daley for Bellator KB gold??? Ill never know.
We were robbed dammit!!
Daley always whined about the ground, he fought Fernando Gonzalez in Bellator KB he would be open to to??? Anyways I digress lolll