Luke Rockhold is launching a comeback after a break that lasted for more than three years. Rockhold will be facing Paulo Costa at UFC 278. Rockhold opened up about some of life’s hardships prior to making a comeback and apparently ushered in a new era of utilizing magic mushrooms in his camp.
Rockhold recently made an appearance on Brendan Schaub’s resurrected Fight companion podcast and helped provide commentary for UFC 276 that happened this past weekend.
Rockhold provided odd commentary but this wasn’t particularly eyebrow raising considering his history of cringey behavior.
Rockhold explained to Submission Radio:
“It’s been lately [after training]. I kind of use marijuana to kind of isolate, and I don’t get any need or want to go do other things, you know what I mean?”
“It just kind of isolates me, hyper focuses me on my goal and be on a one-track mind. And then I tried some mushrooms, and it enhances my focus within that space. So, that’s great. It’s like, boom, branches me out.”
“It hyper-focuses me in on weed, for training, and then you take the mushrooms to expand your thought processes within that space.”
“[I’m taking mushrooms] four days a week. I don’t know. Every day? I don’t know. I take them when I run. You use them post training. I use them for cardiovascular kind of focused training, I’d say. That’s my thing.”
“You know, you just really analyze, digest what you’re doing, and it gives you perspective, a lot of perspective on your training. This is the first [training camp] I’ve really incorporated [them]. No, I used it a little bit in the past, but never like this.”
Rockhold acknowledged that during his time away from competition, he had alcohol-related problems. In addition to using cannabis and mushrooms as far healthier substitutes, he is also experimenting with new pastimes like painting and sculpture to keep himself occupied while not working out.
Rockhold added: “I was definitely getting carried away, with my quote unquote ‘retirement’ or what you want to call it. I was getting carried away. I was drinking too much and losing sight of what I really wanted.”
“We just liked to have fun, you what I mean? We like to live life to the fullest, and sometimes it gets a little, you know, you got a little overboard. I’m an extremist. So, I like to have too much fun. But I know how to pull back.”
“I’ve always had that ability, to pull things back and to focus on what really matters. Experiences in life, you’ve always gotta experience them all. But [I’m] still good, you know? I had to pull it back in, and now I’m using it in a different way. The old way, and better than ever.”
“Just focused on what I want and getting everything done in life. It’s good. It’s cool s*it. You gotta be cool as f*ck, right? You gotta be Cool Hand Luke.”
Rockhold only competed once a year prior to taking a break. In three of his past four matches, he suffered devastating defeats against former champions and title challengers like Jan Blachowicz, Michael Bisping, and Yoel Romero.