Former UFC champion Rockhold wrestles Pyfer at RAF 13 in Miami

Luke Rockhold, the former UFC middleweight champion, steps onto the wrestling mat against ranked contender Joe Pyfer at RAF 13 on Friday at the Watsoc Center in Miami, Florida.

Rockhold retired from MMA in 2022 and has since competed across multiple combat sports disciplines. Wrestling was never a cornerstone of his game — he stopped competing in the sport after high school — but he made his RAF debut in January, suffering a tech-fall loss to Colby Covington at RAF 5.

Pyfer, nicknamed “Bodybagz”, also stepped away from wrestling after high school to pursue MMA, a decision that has paid clear dividends. He currently sits inside the UFC’s top-15 middleweight rankings and arrives in Miami carrying serious momentum after knocking out former champion Israel Adesanya in his most recent outing. A win over Rockhold would give Pyfer a perfect 2-0 record against former UFC champions on the wrestling circuit.

The matchup is a curious collision of MMA pedigree and rediscovered grappling ambition. Rockhold, a former Strikeforce and UFC titleholder, built his championship career on a fluid, long-limbed striking game rather than wrestling credentials, making his foray into the RAF format something of an experiment. Pyfer, by contrast, is at the peak of his MMA career and using the bout as a supplementary competitive outlet.

Whether Rockhold can avenge the setback from his RAF debut or Pyfer extends his run over championship-level opponents will be settled on the mat in Miami.