Luke Rockhold boxing debut vs Darren Till on Misfits Manchester card

Former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold makes his professional boxing debut this weekend, stepping into the Misfits Boxing ring to face fellow ex-UFC star Darren Till in a high-profile main event at the AO Arena in Manchester. The August 30 bout marks Rockhold’s latest foray into combat sports after leaving mixed martial arts in 2022 and testing his skills in bare-knuckle boxing and Karate Combat. Till, who recently advanced his own boxing career, enters the bout with questions about durability and a determination to prove his punching power in a new rule set.

Rockhold’s path to boxing has been marked by a diverse post-UFC journey. After a storied tenure in MMA, during which he held Strikeforce and UFC titles, Rockhold explored different disciplines in pursuit of fresh challenges and paydays. He carved out a notable knockout win in Karate Combat against Joe Schilling, demonstrating quick hands and precise technique in a striking-only format. His foray into bare-knuckle boxing, however, was short-lived; a clash with Mike Perry ended due to injury, and Rockhold later criticized the sport publicly. Ahead of his Misfits debut, he has framed boxing as a natural extension of...