Luke Rockhold To Make Combat Sports Return In Jerusalem, Opponent Revealed

Luke Rockhold is set to make his return to competition. He will be facing off against Craig Jones, in a grappling match set to go down in Jerusalem.

Rockhold has been taking on a variety of different challenges since announcing his departure from the UFC. He most recently found himself in the world of bare-knuckle boxing, where he would suffer a defeat and some broken teeth, courtesy of Mike Perry in BKFC.

Luke Rockhold vs. Craig Jones is Official

The last few weeks has seen Luke Rockhold campaigning for a grappling match against Georges St-Pierre, following the former two-division champion announcing his intent to return to action. While Rockhold will be getting the grappling match he was searching for, it will be against someone with a much higher grappling pedigree.

Reports recently emerged that Rockhold will be competing at an Israel Fight Night, set to take place at the Paris Arena in Jerusalem, on September 21st. Here, he will be taking on IBJJF and Polaris champ Craig Jones in a grappling match, at a weight of 220lb.

The official posterIsrael Fight Night 21.9.23Pais arena, Jerusalem 📌Noad Lahat vs. Albert Morales📌Johnny Case Vs. Loay Sakas (Kickboxing)📌Luke Rockhold vs. Craig Jones (Grappling)More good fights..https://t.co/SnTyGI1WrK pic.twitter.com/4YCD22Wp2N

— Tzahi Benita🇮🇱 (@Tzahi_Benita) August 13, 2023

Rockhold is not the only former UFC fighter to be making an appearance at this Israel Fight Night card, with Johnny Case and Darrell Horcher being among those also competing. It appears that this card will be mostly MMA, with the exception of the grappling match between Rockhold and Jones, and the kickboxing match between Case and Loay Sakas.

This will be the first professional grappling contest that Luke Rockhold has participated in since 2007, where he competed and won gold in both gi and no-gi at the Worlds. On the other hand, Craig Jones won the Fight Pass Invitational earlier this year, so this should make for an interesting matchup.

• Read also: Luke Rockhold Breaks Alex Pereira’s Record, Vows To ‘Kill That Motherf—ker’