According to Luke Rockhold , Khamzat Chimaev declined to fight him in the UFC. Rockhold (16-6) claims that upon returning to the octagon from a three-year layoff, he was offered Chimaev, but the unbeaten middleweight turned him down. Rockhold ended up coming back to face Paulo Costa at UFC 278, losing the bloody, back-and-forth battle by unanimous decision. The former UFC middleweight champion hasn’t competed in MMA since, but was just drafted to the Global Fight League as part of Team Dubai. Despite his new home, Rockhold doesn’t rule out a UFC return.
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Luke Rockhold claims Khamzat Chimaev once turned down UFC fight against him – MMA Junkie