Daniel Cormier explains why UFC 278 “was a fairytale ending” for Luke Rockhold

Daniel Cormier believes UFC 278 was a fairytale ending for Luke Rockhold.

Rockhold ended his three-year layoff in the co-main event of UFC 278 as he returned to middleweight against Paulo Costa. It was a highly-anticipated bout and was a massive fight for both men as if Rockhold won, he likely could’ve gotten a title shot.

Unfortunately for the former middleweight champ in Rockhold, he lost a clear-cut decision to Costa. Although he lost, Cormier believes Rockhold fought a good fight and got to go out in a fun fight in front of fans.

“We get to the co-main event, my boy Luke Rockhold fights the final fight of his career and you know what? I can’t say I’m not disappointed. Because skill wise he looked like he still has a ton left but his cardio, his body posture, the way that he looked in there tells me that it’s about time for my boy to walk away,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “So I ran over and I gave him a big hug… Hats off to my boy Luke. Guys, I hope that you guys enjoy this while we were there. I always talk about you’ve got to enjoy fighters while you have them. Because you never know when they’re going to be gone.

Image Credit: USA Today

“I got this picture sent to me and now we’re all gone. You look at this photo and it’s Khabib Nurmagomedov, myself, Luke Rockhold and Cain Velasquez and if you look at the coach off to the right, to the left of Cain, he’s dead,” Cormier continued. “Cain’s in jail. We’ve had some really, really great times at the American Kickboxing Academy and the final of the guys we called the four kings takes a bow in front of the fans tonight in what I believe was a fairytale ending for Luke Rockhold.”

With Rockhold retiring at UFC 278, the former UFC middleweight king ends his career with a record of 16-6 but went 1-4 in his final five fights. He’s also the former Strikeforce middleweight champ and holds notable wins over Chris Weidman, Lyoto Machida, Michael Bisping, and Jacare Souza among others.

What do you make of Daniel Cormier saying UFC 278 was a fairytale ending for Luke Rockhold?