Luke Rockhold Moves Up to Light Heavyweight, Meets Jan Blachowicz at UFC 239

Former UFC and Strikeforce middleweight champion Luke Rockhold will move up in weight to face Jan Blachowicz at UFC 239.

ESPN was first to report the light heavyweight bout. UFC 239 takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on July 6 as part of the promotion’s International Fight Week. The main card airs on pay-per-view, available only via ESPN+, while prelims air on ESPN and ESPN+. A headliner for the card has not been announced.

Rockhold hasn’t competed since February 2018, when he suffered a third-round knockout loss to Yoel Romero in the UFC 221 main event. The American Kickboxing Academy product won five of his first six Octagon appearances, claiming 185-pound gold with a four-round stoppage of Chris Weidman at UFC 194. He is just 1-2 since, relinquishing the title in an upset loss to Michael Bisping at UFC 199.

Blachowicz, meanwhile, had a four-bout winning streak snapped in his last outing at UFC Fight Night 145, where he suffered a third-round technical knockout loss against Thiago Santos. The former KSW competitor owns notable wins over the likes of Jimi Manuwa, Nikita Krylov, Jared Cannonier and Ilir Latifi during his UFC tenure.