Luke Rockhold is not a fan of Sean Strickland.
That’s no secret and Rockhold most certainly isn’t alone. However, he’s still interested in getting his hands on his fellow former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Middleweight champion.
Strickland, 33, rebounded off a split decision title loss to Dricus du Plessis (watch highlights) at UFC 297 when he defeated Paulo Costa via split decision in UFC 303’s co-main event this past weekend (June 1, 2024). Unfortunately for spectators around the globe, it wasn’t as entertaining of a match up as expected and resulted in an odd scorecard from judge, Dave Tirelli, that scored Costa the victor 49-46.
“How the hell does it become a split decision? What round did Paulo win? The first round, maybe?” Rockhold asked on the JAXXON PODCAST.
“I hate Strickland,” he continued. “He’s so f—king annoying. I’ve seen him at the gym, I’ve seen him spar a few times. I would love to [beat his ass]. The press conference might be better than the fight.”
Rockhold, 39, also returned to the win column in his last time out. Debuting in Karate Combat, Rockhold knocked out Joe Schilling in round three (watch highlights) last month (April 20, 2024). It was his first combat sports win since he defeated David Branch at UFC Pittsburgh in September 2017.
Admittedly ending things on good terms with UFC, Rockhold is down for one last Octagon appearance if allowed to take out Strickland.
“I hate that guy,” Rockhold said. “I know a lot of people look at me and they just hate me, I see this f—king kid’s face every time I see him it’s just f—king disgusting. Sean Strickland. He’s a fake little b—tch. Doesn’t even know who he is.
“I don’t think he believes the s—t he’s saying these days,” he continued. “Dana [White] gives me that hall pass, I will come in, step on that kid’s face.”
As some may recall, Strickland vs. Rockhold was scheduled to happen at UFC 268 in November 2021. That was until Rockhold was forced out of the contest with a herniated disc.
Catching wind of Rockhold’s comments, Strickland responded in his typical fashion.
“Couple things… I sparred you 1 round, f—ked you up and you snuck away like a b—ch. This was witnessed,” Strickland responded on Twitter. “Also we were scheduled to fight. I said, ‘hell yeah that’s a easy paycheck.’ And you pulled out a few weeks out… Xtreme [Couture]? I’ll f—k you up for fun lol”