Luke Rockhold accuses Paulo Costa of making excuses to avoid fight: “He’s looking for a way out”

Luke Rockhold has taken aim at Paulo Costa for allegedly turning down a July fight against him.

The former UFC middleweight champion announced that he would be returning to the cage last year. He was scheduled to fight Sean Strickland last November, but that bout was scrapped after Rockhold had an injury. Since that cancelation, the former champ has been looking for a fight with Paulo Costa.

The Brazilian is fresh off a loss to Marvin Vettori, where he missed weight by 20 pounds. Despite that weight miss, he’s been adamant that he will continue to fight at middleweight. However, it seems that he doesn’t want to fight Luke Rockhold at 185, as he’s turned down fights against the former champ.

Luke Rockhold discussed his ongoing saga with Costa on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani. The former UFC middleweight champion revealed that the Brazilian has turned down fights against him. He accused Costa of ducking him, as well as being on steroids.

Image Credit: UFC

“He’s so dangerous in so many ways but I think he’s looking for a way out, and I can find it. He’s missed weight twice for that fight [against Marvin Vettori] and he’s making excuses on not contractually agreeing to this fight because of the weight issues they’re putting on him. So, within all these rules, it’s like, you don’t want to make weight, you want to make excuses. You’re just a f*cking b*tch when it comes down to it. Your steroids aren’t working anymore, and you f*cking got caught up. You’re looking for a way out, and he’s always needed “assistance” in whatever ways, it’s obvious. F*cking show up, show up and show out. Let’s go.”

What do you think about Luke Rockhold’s comments? Would you like to see him fight Paulo Costa? Who would you pick to win the battle between middleweight contenders?