Luke Skyler Rockhold[4] (born October 17, 1984) is an American retired mixed martial artist who is currently signed with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship and Karate Combat.

Growing up, Luke and his older brother, pro-surfer Matt Rockhold, surfed their local breaks together.

In 2006, a friend invited Rockhold to train at the American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) in San Jose, California.

The second fight took place on the Strikeforce: Destruction card, which Rockhold won via submission.

Rockhold was given a step up in competition when he fought Cory Devela at Strikeforce Challengers: Villasenor vs. Cyborg.

[10][11] At Strikeforce Challengers: Gurgel vs. Evangelista, Rockhold defeated The Ultimate Fighter 7 contestant, Jesse Taylor.

In February 2010, Rockhold defeated another Ultimate Fighter 7 finalist, Paul Bradley, and won via TKO (knees to the body).

[12] In addition to the win, Rockhold was announced as a playable character for the EA Sports MMA video game.

[23] Rockhold faced perennial multi-divisional contender Vitor Belfort on May 18, 2013, in the main event at UFC on FX 8.

[33] He won the fight in the second round, after dropping Bisping with a head kick and then applying a guillotine choke submission.

[40] Rockhold won by technical knockout in the fourth round and became the 7th middleweight champion in UFC history.

[46][47] His title match against Bisping ended in the first round when Rockhold was dropped with a left hook and finished with a flurry of punches against the cage.

Rockhold was expected to face Ronaldo Souza in a rematch on November 27, 2016, at UFC Fight Night 101.

[50] Rockhold faced former two-time WSOF champion David Branch on September 16, 2017, at UFC Fight Night 116 after being away from the sport for almost 15 months due to injuries.

[53][54] On January 13, 2018, it was reported that Whittaker pulled out from his bout against Rockhold at UFC 221 due to a serious condition of staph infection.

[58] Rockhold was briefly linked to a light heavyweight bout with Alexander Gustafsson on August 4, 2018, at UFC 227.

[60] However, on October 19, 2018, it was reported Rockhold withdrew from the bout, citing an injury, and he was replaced by Ronaldo Souza.

[61] In December 2018, Rockhold announced he will be moving up to light heavyweight due to ever-increasingly harder weight cuts that have led to numerous injuries during training.

[64] After a two year lay off, Rockhold was expected to face Sean Strickland in a middleweight bout on November 6, 2021, at UFC 268.

[71] In January 2023, Rockhold announced that he had negotiated a release from his UFC contract and would come out of retirement to compete for another MMA organization.

[72] Luke Rockhold and Tyron Woodley coached a group of fighters in a Hardcore FC Fight Show reality TV series for Hardcore FC promotion which wasfilmed in the United Arab Emirates during April and May of 2024.

Rockhold was scheduled to face Craig Jones in a grappling match at Israel Fight Night on September 21, 2023,[76] but the event was cancelled.

[78] On March 1, 2023, BKFC president Dave Feldman announced that Rockhold had signed with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship.

He made his debut against Mike Perry at BKFC 41 on April 29, 2023, and retired during the fight losing by technical knockout.

The duo made their first public appearance while attending UFC 205 together, at Madison Square Garden in New York.