Former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold gave a brutal assessment of Sean Strickland’s performance at UFC 312.
Sean Strickland‘s attempt at becoming a two-time UFC middleweight champion fell short within the UFC 312 headliner. After five rounds of a largely dominant showing by Dricus du Plessis, Strickland lost by unanimous decision to drop to 0-2 against the present middleweight titleholder.
As Strickland struggled to place out a consistent activity level against du Plessis, he suffered a broken nose after a large punch from the champion. Miraculously, Strickland made it the total distance after resetting his nose in the course of the motion.
Fans and pundits praised Strickland’s grit and toughness following UFC 312. But a former titleholder took the alternative approach in blasting Strickland for failing to live as much as his pre-fight guarantees.
Luke Rockhold reignites feud with Sean Strickland after UFC 312
During a recent appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, Luke Rockhold reacted to Strickland’s performance.
“If someone breaks your nose, you gotta fight like a f—— man and sack up,” Rockhold said. “This m——– talks such an enormous game after which he b—— out and mainly quits in a fight after he breaks his nose.
“When does (Strickland) ever f——- put his a– on the road and f—— bite down and really go for it through an entire means of a fight, not only the last 10 seconds of a round? Take a look at him on the market.” (h/t MMANews)
As of this writing, Strickland hasn’t responded to Rockhold’s remarks. UFC analyst Din Thomas also criticized Strickland’s performance harshly, although his critiques were more emotionally measured than Rockhold’s.
Sean Strickland could face one other rematch for UFC return after second title loss
Strickland and Rockhold were purported to meet at UFC 268 earlier of their promotional tenures. Rockhold withdrew resulting from injury and didn’t make his long-awaited return to the Octagon until a loss to Paulo Costa at UFC 278.
Strickland could potentially face Israel Adesanya for his next fight as the previous rivals are each coming off recent losing skids. Adesanya lost to Nassourdine Imavov at UFC Saudi Arabia earlier this month and despite teasing retirement, has since pivoted on that stance.
Strickland continues to feel the warmth from fans and a few of his fellow fighters after a second loss to du Plessis at UFC 312. While Rockhold and Strickland will likely never fight one another within the cage, a confrontation outside of it isn’t off the table.
