Austin Hubbard understands why Max Rohskopf didn’t want to keeping fighting beyond the second stanza.
This past Saturday night (June 20), Hubbard and Rohskopf competed in the opening bout on the UFC on ESPN 11 card. Hubbard was simply too much for Rohskopf. Once the second round came to an end, Rohskopf told his coach, Robert Drysdale, that he was done. Drysdale didn’t throw in the towel and instead tried to motivate his fighter to push on to the final frame. When approached by referee Mark Smith, Rohskopf said he didn’t want to continue and the fight was stopped.
Austin Hubbard Doesn’t Blame Max Rohskopf For Quitting
Hubbard spoke to media members after UFC on ESPN 11 and said that Rohskopf is tough and shouldn’t be blamed for taking an early exit (h/t MMAJunkie).
“I was surprised,” Hubbard said. “I never experienced that. I know I was hitting him clean; I was hitting him hard. I can’t blame him. He is a tough kid. He was taking them well. I could tell those were hurting him, though. … I could tell he was a little cloudy. I’m not surprised, and in my mind I was finishing that fight for sure.”
With the win, it’s possible that Hubbard saved his job with the UFC. He was coming off a unanimous decision loss to Mark Madsen. Had Hubbard been defeated on Saturday night, he will have gone 2-3 in his last five outings with two straight losses.
As mentioned, Drysdale is Rohskopf’s coach. He’s received a lot of flak for trying to motivate his fighter rather than throw in the towel. Drysdale has responded saying he has no regrets. The coach believes that Rohskopf wasn’t in serious danger and had he been, he wouldn’t have hesitated to stop the fight. Drysdale also made it clear that he still believes in Rohskopf reaching his full potential one day.
