Rockhold Describes Near Death Surfing Incident

“Getting trapped under water and feeling that sensation of almost drowning, while getting tossed around… that’s not a good feeling. That’s a scary situation. 100 percent, I’m not scared in the Octagon. There’s a little anxiety, but in the ocean, you have no control out there. In a fight I don’t get scared, I might get a little anxiety and a bit nervous, but in the water…it’s a no brainer right there.”

“I was thrown around and (got) stuck under a rock. My leash got caught and I couldn’t go out the other way so I had to calm myself down and pull myself back out. I was (forced to) crawl my way backwards out from under this rock, not knowing what was going on. My buddies were freaking out because they saw me go over the falls, watched my board just bobbing up and down for a while. When I finally popped up, there were four or five of them staring back at me. I’ve been surfing for a long time, a lot of my friends are professional surfers, and I may get a little more waves than I used to (laughs), but I’m not trying to use my career to get waves all the time… well maybe just a little bit (laughs).”

In a recent interview with MMA Kanvas, this weekend’s UFC headliner, Luke Rockhold, discussed his near death experience while surfing.

Anyone share a similar experience?