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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 in 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 current middleweight titleholder.
As Strickland struggled to put out a consistent activity level against du Plessis, he suffered a broken nose after a massive punch from the champion. Miraculously, Strickland made it the full distance after resetting his nose in the middle of the action.
Fans and pundits praised Strickland’s grit and toughness following UFC 312. But a former titleholder took the opposite approach in blasting Strickland for failing to live up to his pre-fight promises.
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 a big game and then he b—— out and basically quits in a fight after he breaks his nose.
“When does (Strickland) ever f——- put his a– on the line and f—— bite down and really go for it through a whole process of a fight, not just the last 10 seconds of a round? Look at him out there.” (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.
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Sean Strickland could face another rematch for UFC return after second title loss
Strickland and Rockhold were supposed to meet at UFC 268 earlier in their promotional tenures. Rockhold withdrew due to injury and didn’t make his long-awaited return to the Octagon until a loss to Paulo Costa at UFC 278.
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Strickland could potentially face Israel Adesanya for his next fight as the former rivals are both 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 heat from fans and some of his fellow fighters after a second loss to du Plessis at UFC 312. While Rockhold and Strickland will likely never fight each other in the cage, a confrontation outside of it isn’t off the table.
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