Luke Rockhold: No malicious intent with tiger fondling

UFC middleweight contender Luke Rockhold and Thailand are proving to be an odd (and occasionally dangerous) mix.

The former Strikeforce champion recently went from Macau, where he didn’t fight but took part in some media activities around UFC Fight Night 48, to Phuket, where he’s made some new friends.

After a visit with some tigers resulted in the above photo, Rockhold got some backlash on social media. But he assured readers it was all in good fun (via Twitter and Instagram):

Here's the video. For those of u who think it was disrespectful I'm sorry. Was so minor just joking… instagram.com/p/sM_42lIaIx/—
Luke Rockhold (@LukeRockhold) August 27, 2014

Some of the tiger highlights:

This little guy tried to bite my Jewels so I had to show him who's boss. instagram.com/p/sL7OkvoaH1/—
Luke Rockhold (@LukeRockhold) August 27, 2014

We made up and high fived right after instagram.com/p/sM6HM5oaBZ/—
Luke Rockhold (@LukeRockhold) August 27, 2014

And on the snake-charming front (with UFC vet Mike Swick):

Rockhold (12-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) was recently in discussions for a potential fight with ex-champ Lyoto Machida (24-6 MMA, 14-6 UFC). However, the focus seems to be turning to a possible bout with rival Michael Bisping (24-6 MMA, 14-6 UFC). Check out his video challenge to Bisping below.

Rockhold has rebounded from a UFC-debut loss to Vitor Belfort with stoppage wins over Costas Philippou and Tim Boetsch in his two most recent outings. He’s currently ranked No. 6 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA middleweight rankings.

For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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