Rockhold is being counted out by far too many... I think this is a near 50/50 fight. If Rockhold can drag Whittaker to the mat he'll be in trouble.
I think this is going to be an awesome fight and I favour Whitaker to win but Rockhold will have a massive size advantage on fight night and if his chin holds up may be Whitakers toughest opponent.
I'm not what I would call a Luke Rockhold fan, but I've always believed he could do big things in this sport. I don't know many of you from way back when I predicted he would become the StrikeForce Middleweight champ. Most of the MMA forum had a picture of me as their avatar for a brief period. Anyway...some were curious as to how far I thought he could go once he signed with the UFC. I recall saying that speed was his only weekness and he should be able to hold his own with anyone outside of Belfort or Silva. TRT Belfort starched him. Whittaker has a hand speed advantage, and given Bisping's success; this should not be taken lightly. Rockhold holds the advantage everywhere, aside from boxing. Whittaker can still knock him the **** out.
Given that Whittaker is healthy I think he stops Rockhold early. Rockhold can win this though if he can get Whittaker down early in a round, either via a scramble or a td, his top game is arguably the best in the sport.
Yeah and Rockhold can have success with his takedowns because most of them are from the clinch, not shots which Whittaker has Cro Cop esque like success at stopping.
Jacare always gets the plaudits as the best grappler in MW history, but Rockhold is an amazing talent BJJ wise and he has a managed to combine it with a brutal g&p style offence like the power wrestlers. He is a bona-fide ATG who has chin issues. 9/10 he beats Bisping and I'd probably favour him 9/10 to beat Belfort. If Whittaker catches him he'll knock him out, if not Rockhold has a better gas tank than Romero and will do the job. I expect Whittaker to win but Rockhold is extremely dangerous.
