Brad Tate is a seasoned cutman in the UFC, a familiar face at events where he inspects fighters before they step into the Octagon and tends to their cuts and injuries between rounds.
Despite not being a fighter himself, Tate has earned a reputation in MMA circles as a reliable member of the UFC team, much like Bruce Buffer. He has built strong relationships with various UFC fighters such as Charles Oliveira, Daniel Cormier, Gilbert Burns, Jamahal Hill, and many others.
With almost a decade of experience working with mixed martial artists, Tate recently disclosed that a former UFC middleweight champion posed the biggest challenge for him…
Cutman Tate playfully suggests Luke Rockhold isn’t well-liked except by Daniel Cormier
During an appearance on the Believe You Me podcast hosted by Michael Bisping, Tate shared some insights from his interactions with the UFC roster.
To Bisping’s delight, Tate jokingly referred to Luke Rockhold as one of the more challenging fighters he has worked with in the UFC. Notably, Bisping defeated Rockhold at UFC 199 in 2016 in a major upset to win the UFC middleweight championship.
Without delving into specifics, Tate mentioned that Rockhold consistently caused difficulties. He expressed gratitude towards Bisping for taking the championship from Rockhold, indicating his dislike for the fighter.
“I will give you the one person because he’s not in the UFC anymore and you fought him. F*****g Luke Rockhold was a pain in a**. Like, bro, listen to me, I know he was a good fighter. I don’t think anybody except DC like Luke Rockhold.”
Additionally, Tate criticized Rockhold for his behavior towards current UFC fighters like Sean Strickland, now that he is no longer with the promotion. He noted that Rockhold’s refusal to change his attitude despite criticism fueled his negative reputation.
“I see him now, and like, he was talking sh*t about Sean Strickland. And I’m like, nobody cares bro. Like this whole, Dana call me I’ll go in there and handle this for you. It’s like, dude, he was a problem like and he was just, dude, him losing the belt was like the best thing for him but like I said. I mean he’s not in the UFC anymore but he was the one guy that just, oh my god, even to just be around him, you would just be like, bro, why are you such a d**k? And honestly, you could tell him that he was a d**k and it just, I think that fueled him even more and made him even more like, yeah, let me be that way.”
Despite rarely having negative experiences with fighters, Tate’s strong dislike for Rockhold stands out. Fortunately for Tate, it seems unlikely that Rockhold will make a comeback to the UFC following his loss to Paulo Costa at UFC 278.
