Visibly exhausted following a wild opening round, former middleweight champion Luke Rockhold used every drop of blood and sweat to make it to the finish line
In the end, the 37-year-old Rockhold (16-6) would call an official end to his career following a unanimous decision loss
The loss halted a two-fight losing skid for Costa, the 31-year-old slugger from Brazil
which included a self-implosive failed bid for Israel Adesanya's 185-pound title in 2020. But the story of the fight quickly became Rockhold who
despite putting his hands on his knees amid exhaustion midway through Round 2
showed tremendous heart in his first fight since 2019 as he suffered his third straight defeat.
An emotional Rockhold was in tears after the fight before telling Joe Rogan during his post-fight interview that he had come to terms with retirement following a decorated 15-year career.
"I've been through so much the last three years," Rockhold said.
"Thank you to the UFC, but I f---ing can't do this shit anymore. I gave it my all but I'm f---ing old."
Costa hurt Rockhold midway through Round 1 with a series of right hands that bloodied his nose.