Rockhold signals retirement after decision loss to Costa at UFC 278

Middleweight Luke Rockhold indicated he'll retire from mixed martial arts following a unanimous decision loss to Paulo Costa at UFC 278.

Rockhold looked noticeably winded during the three-round bout. He appeared to be gasping for breath between strikes and sustained a bloody nose during the encounter. Despite appearing fatigued, Rockhold was able to land significant strikes on Costa.

Rockhold returned to the Octagon for the first time since fighting Jan Blachowicz in July 2019.

The San Jose, California, native is the former middleweight champion, having earned the belt after defeating Chris Weidman in 2015. He then lost the title in a rematch with Michael Bisping. Rockhold briefly moved up to light heavyweight, where he lost to Blachowicz in his only fight in the division.

Rockhold concludes his career with a 16-6 record that includes a perfect record during his tenure with Strikeforce.

Meanwhile, Costa snapped a two-fight losing streak after dropping a title contest to Israel Adesanya and then his next bout to Marvin Vettori a year later. The bout against Vettori was plagued by drama as the weight limit had to be raised multiple times before it was booked as a light heavyweight match. His most recent victory prior to Saturday came via unanimous decision against Yoel Romero at UFC 241 in 2019.