Sean Strickland’s attempt to reclaim his middleweight title went quite the other way at UFC 312. Facing off against Dricus Du Plessis, Strickland was expected to put up a significant challenge. Unfortunately, with the champion dominating, ‘Tarzan’ suffered a unanimous decision loss compared to his controversial split decision earlier. But that was not all. In the process, Strickland also suffered some serious damage to his body, including breaking his nose in Round 4. Reacting to the loss, former UFC champion Luke Rockhold had some stern words for Strickland.
Interacting with Ariel Helwani, Rockhold opined that Strickland seemed too much concerned about fixing his nose. He stated that when the belt is on the line, a fighter must know how to put his body on the line and go all out.
“If someone breaks your nose, you gotta fight like a fu**ing man and sack up… World title is on the line, which is all you dreamed of, but you’re more worried about fixing your f*cking nose,” Rockhold stated.
"If someone breaks your nose, you gotta fight like a fucking man and sack up.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) February 10, 2025
This motherfucker talks such a big game and then he bitches out and basically quits in a fight after he breaks his nose…
When does [Strickland] ever fucking put his ass on the line and fucking bite… pic.twitter.com/5YTkzBM5K4
Rockhold further mentioned how Strickland always talks big but fails to deliver when the opportunity arrives. Meanwhile, Luke Rockhold is not the only one dissatisfied with Strickland’s performance. His coach, Eric Nicksick, too, had a lot to say.
Eric Nicksick Criticizes Sean Strickland’s Approach
Sean Strickland was being given repeated instructions to get aggressive during his UFC 312 fight. However, with each round passing, ‘Tarzan’ looked significantly timid in his approach. Ultimately, this resulted in his loss by unanimous decision, which did not sit well with his coach Eric Nicksick. Opening out on the same, Nicksick vented out his frustrations in an interview with Ariel Helwani.
“It was just uninspired fighting… it seemed like he was sleepwalking… I want to coach world champions,” Nicksick chimed in.
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Thus, with things looking quite grim for Sean Strickland, it now remains to be seen how things will pan out in the future.
