Luke Rockhold set to make Octagon return at UFC 268 opposite Sean Strickland

Luke Rockhold will make his UFC return in November.

For months now, Rockhold has hinted at a possible return to the Octagon but he claimed all the top middleweights were turning him down. On Tuesday, however, it was revealed the UFC offered him a fight against Sean Strickland.

Now, according to TSN, Rockhold and Strickland have verbally agreed to fight one another at UFC 268 on November 6. The event is targeted to take place at Madison Square Garden.

This is an intriguing matchup as Rockhold has only ever lost to elite guys. He now gets a chance to prove he still is one of the best middleweights. Strickland, meanwhile, gets the opportunity to fight a former champion and if he beats Rockhold, it will cement himself as a top contender at 185lbs.

Luke Rockhold (16-5) hasn’t fought since UFC 239 where he suffered a second-round KO loss to Jan Blachowicz in his light heavyweight debut. Prior to that, he lost by KO to Yoel Romero at UFC 221 for the interim middleweight title. Rockhold is the former middleweight champion who beat Chris Weidman at UFC 194 to become the champ. Unfortunately for Rockhold, he never defended the belt as he suffered a KO loss to Michael Bisping in his first title defense. In his career, he holds notable wins over Bisping, Lyoto Machida, and Tim Kennedy among others. He’s currently unranked at middleweight due to the time off.

Sean Strickland (24-3) is coming off a decision win over Uriah Hall at UFC Vegas 34 on Saturday in his first middleweight scrap. He’s currently on a five-fight winning streak and is a perfect 18-0 at middleweight in his career. Although he has been in the UFC since 2014 he had eight fights at welterweight and lost two years of his career due to a motorcycle crash. There’s no question if he gets his hand raised over Rockhold, it would be the biggest win of his career.

With the addition of Luke Rockhold vs. Sean Strickland, UFC 268 is as follows:

• Kamaru Usman vs. Colby Covington
• Justin Gaethje vs. Michael Chandler
• Sean Strickland vs. Luke Rockhold

Who do you think will win, Luke Rockhold or Sean Strickland?