Tag: Sean Strickland

Strickland: No One Is Surprised By Rockhold’s UFC 268 Withdrawal

Sean Strickland has reacted to Luke Rockhold being forced out of their UFC 268 fight. On Monday evening, Rockhold took to his Instagram story to announce he is out of his comeback fight against Strickland. The former middleweight champion revealed he herniated discs in his back which forced him out of the fight. “There’s no […]

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Sean Strickland has reacted to Luke Rockhold being forced out of their UFC 268 fight.

On Monday evening, Rockhold took to his Instagram story to announce he is out of his comeback fight against Strickland. The former middleweight champion revealed he herniated discs in his back which forced him out of the fight.

“There’s no easy way to really say it, but the fight is off in New York,” Rockhold said on his Instagram story about pulling out of the Strickland fight. “I ended up herniating a disc in my back. L4, L5. The docs say it’s nothing I can play with. I need to do some treatment and recovery time. Some things just aren’t meant to be. New York, motherf*cking New York. I’m sorry to the friends and the peeps and everyone, but we’ll be back. Until next time.”

The news was no doubt disappointing for many as Rockhold vs. Strickland is a fight many fans wanted to see. Strickland, however, says he isn’t surprised to the news that Rockhold was forced out of the bout.

“He was never going to make it to the fight lmao… no one is surprised. I sparred him once and almost put him out.. didn’t even spar the second round, walked out of the gym lmao.. I knew this wasn’t happening,” Strickland wrote.

Sean Strickland has been phenomenal since returning from a motorcycle accident that nearly forced him to retire from MMA. When he made his return back on Halloween night 2020, he dominated Jack Marshman and then fought just two weeks later and TKO’d Brendan Allen. He then beat Krzystof Jotko and Uriah Hall by decision, which was his first UFC main event.

Strickland is currently ranked seventh at middleweight and as of right now, it’s uncertain if the UFC will find someone to replace Rockhold.

Who would you like to see Sean Strickland fight now that Luke Rockhold is out of their UFC 268 fight?

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Gilbert Burns Offers To Step In On Short Notice To Face Strickland

Gilbert Burns is looking for an opportunity to step into a bout on short notice. On Monday, Luke Rockhold announced that he was forced to pull out of his main card fight with Sean Strickland following injury. It took no time for other fighters to volunteer to step in, one of those being Gilbert Burns. […]

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Gilbert Burns is looking for an opportunity to step into a bout on short notice.

On Monday, Luke Rockhold announced that he was forced to pull out of his main card fight with Sean Strickland following injury. It took no time for other fighters to volunteer to step in, one of those being Gilbert Burns.

Burns has been actively looking for a fight with one of the top welterweights. He has been pursuing Jorge Masvidal, Leon Edwards, and Nate Diaz in recent weeks. Now that Masvidal and Edwards have linked up together and Diaz is rumored to be facing Vicente Luque, that leaves Burns on the outside looking in.

With no luck among the top five in his division, Burns has decided to try a last-minute fill-in in the weight class up, He took to Twitter to make his request.

“Middle weight Nov 06? Sign me in I fight Strickland and I meant it,” Burns wrote on Twitter.

Luke Rockhold was making his return against Strickland after being retired from the sport for two years. With this injury, his return will be pushed back. Although fighters have been seeking to replace him, there is no word yet if someone will. Strickland could choose to wait for Rockhold to be ready.

Strickland was coming into this matchup having won five in a row. He is currently sitting in the number seven spot of the official UFC middleweight rankings.

Would you like to see Gilbert Burns step in and face Sean Strickland at UFC 268 in New York City?

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Sean Strickland Reacts To Luke Rockhold’s Withdrawal From UFC 268

Sean StricklandSean Strickland is not surprised to hear Luke Rockhold has withdrawn from their fight which was supposed to take place at UFC 268 on November 5. The former UFC middleweight champion announced on Monday night that he is out of his fight with Strickland. “There’s no easy way to really say it, but the fight […]

Sean Strickland

Sean Strickland is not surprised to hear Luke Rockhold has withdrawn from their fight which was supposed to take place at UFC 268 on November 5.

The former UFC middleweight champion announced on Monday night that he is out of his fight with Strickland.

“There’s no easy way to really say it, but the fight is off in New York,” Rockhold said on his Instagram story. “I ended up herniating a disc in my back. L4, L5. The docs say it’s nothing I can play with. I need to do some treatment and recovery time. Some things just aren’t meant to be. New York, motherf*cking New York. I’m sorry to the friends and the peeps and everyone, but we’ll be back. Until next time.”

Sean Strickland Says He Knew Luke Rockhold Would Pull Out

“He was never going to make it to the fight lmao, Strickland wrote on Instagram. “no one is surprised. I sparred him one and almost put him out.. didn’t even spar the second round, walked out of the gym lmao.. I knew this wasn’t happening”

As of right now, it is unclear if Strickland will receive an alternative opponent for UFC 268. The 30-year-old has strung together four straight wins since making the move from welterweight to middleweight. Most recently, he picked up a lopsided decision victory over long-time 185lb contender, Uriah Hall. Gilbert Burns has volunteered to step in for the outgoing Rockhold.

“Middle weight nov 06? Sign me in I fight Strickland and I meant it,” Burns wrote on Twitter on Monday evening.

Rockhold hasn’t fought since being knocked out by Jan Blachowicz in July 2019. The 36-year-old flirted with the idea of retirement before re-committing himself to MMA. Rockhold has lost three of his last four fights and is without a win since 2017.

Who do you want to see Sean Strickland fight at UFC 268?

Luke Rockhold Injures Back, Out Of Sean Strickland Fight

Unfortunately the return of Luke Rockhold is being delayed. Rockhold has not fought since suffering back-to-back knockout losses to Yoel Romero and current light heavyweight champ Jan Blachowicz two years ago. After discussing the possibility of retirement, the former middleweight champ decided that he was still interested in fighting, booking a fight with Sean Strickland […]

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Unfortunately the return of Luke Rockhold is being delayed.

Rockhold has not fought since suffering back-to-back knockout losses to Yoel Romero and current light heavyweight champ Jan Blachowicz two years ago. After discussing the possibility of retirement, the former middleweight champ decided that he was still interested in fighting, booking a fight with Sean Strickland after a few failed fight negotiations.

However, it seems that this return to action at UFC 268 is going to be delayed. According to a post to his Instagram Stories, Rockhold has suffered two herniated discs, forcing him out of the November contest.

“There’s no easy way to really say it, but the fight is off in New York,” Rockhold said (h/t MMAJunkie). “I ended up herniating a disc in my back. L4, L5. The docs say it’s nothing I can play with. I need to do some treatment and recovery time. Some things just aren’t meant to be. New York, motherf*cking New York. I’m sorry to the friends and the peeps and everyone, but we’ll be back. Until next time.”

This is obviously disappointing for the fans that were excited and looking forward to seeing Rockhold return to the Octagon. On the bright side, he told Ariel Helwani that this was not a severe enough injury to require surgery. Instead, he will be getting an epidural and having about a month and a half of physical therapy.

It will be interesting to see if the UFC decides to rebook this fight, given the nature of the bad blood between the two. At the time of writing, it is unclear if the promotion is looking for a replacement opponent for Sean Strickland.

Here is the updated UFC 268 card, set for November 6th:

Main Card (PPV, 10pm EST)

  • Kamaru Usman vs Colby Covington 2 (Welterweight Title Fight)
  • Rose Namajunas vs Weili Zhang 2 (Strawweight Title Fight)
  • Justin Gaethje vs Michael Chandler
  • Frankie Edgar vs Marlon Vera
  • Alex Pereira vs Andrea Michailidis

Prelims (ESPNEWS, 8pm EST)

  • Al Iaquinta vs Bobby Green
  • Shane Burgos vs Billy Quarantillo
  • Edmen Shahbazyan vs Nassourdine Imavov
  • Ian Garry vs Jordan Williams

Early Prelims (UFC Fight Pass, 6pm EST)

  • Gian Villante vs Chris Barnett
  • Aleksa Camur vs John Allan
  • Melsik Baghdasaryan vs TJ Laramine
  • CJ Veraga vs Ode’ Osbourne

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Sonnen: Rockhold Could Earn Title Shot With Win Over Strickland

Former two-division UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen believes the returning Luke Rockhold could earn a middleweight title shot with a victory over Sean Strickland at UFC 268. Rockhold hasn’t been in action since a 2019 light heavyweight loss to current 205-pound king Jan Blachowicz. At UFC 239, the Polish champ brutally knocked out the Californian. […]

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Former two-division UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen believes the returning Luke Rockhold could earn a middleweight title shot with a victory over Sean Strickland at UFC 268.

Rockhold hasn’t been in action since a 2019 light heavyweight loss to current 205-pound king Jan Blachowicz. At UFC 239, the Polish champ brutally knocked out the Californian. Having previously fallen to a KO at the hands of Bellator MMA’s Yoel Romero, Rockhold will be returning to the promotion next month looking to snap a two-fight losing skid.

The former UFC Middleweight Champion is set to face Sean Strickland on November 6. At the pay-per-view, Rockhold will need to put a stop to surging Strickland’s win streak, which has seen him record five straight wins. Given the 30-year-old’s comments about the veteran, their main card clash is likely to be a fiery affair.

Returning to face the #7-ranked middleweight, Rockhold will have his work cut out to beat a man whose only losses in 27 fights came against Santiago Ponzinibbio, Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos, and current UFC Welterweight Champion Kamaru Usman. Because of that, Chael Sonnen believes an impressive performance on the first November card could earn the 36-year-old a place opposite the champion.

Speaking on an episode of his YouTube series Beyond the Fight, “The American Gangster” suggested the challenge of Rockhold would be much more appealing for Israel Adesanya than a rematch with Derek Brunson, especially if he defeats “Tarzan” at UFC 268.

“With a little bit of help, if Dana just flirted with this idea one time and put it out there, Luke Rockhold [versus] Strickland could come in and steal the show. Shining Rockhold up on his first one back and the return to the division, I get that that needs some work and is unlikely. But if Rockhold does everything just right, has just the right showing, grabs just the right words in the post-fight interview and gets the attention of Adesanya, it is definitely within the realm of possibility. It is far more reasonable than Vettori getting a win and going into it. It’s far more interesting to Adesanya than having to go in there with Brunson a second time.” (h/t Sportskeeda)

While Rockhold looks to try and secure a date with the champ through a successful comeback next month, Adesanya will need to get past Robert Whittaker before considering his next challenger. “The Reaper,” who lost the belt to “The Last Stylebender” at UFC 243, has looked unstoppable in his three wins since being dethroned, which came against Darren Till, Jared Cannonier, and Kelvin Gastelum.

Meanwhile, Brunson and Cannonier will also hope to secure the status of #1 contender. The two top-five middleweights are reportedly also scheduled to clash at the January pay-per-view. Should Rockhold emerge victorious over Strickland, the pair may be joined by another veteran contender in the battle to secure the next championship opportunity.

Do you think an impressive victory over Sean Strickland at UFC 268 would be enough to earn Luke Rockhold a title shot?

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Sean O’Malley: Luke Rockhold Is A Douche

It appears Luke Rockhold has gotten under the skin of rising UFC bantamweight star Sean O’Malley. According to O’Malley, he likes most fighters under UFC contract but recently admitted that he thought Luke Rockhold was a ‘douche’. The former middleweight champion is set for a showdown with the brash Sean Strickland at UFC 269 on […]

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It appears Luke Rockhold has gotten under the skin of rising UFC bantamweight star Sean O’Malley.

According to O’Malley, he likes most fighters under UFC contract but recently admitted that he thought Luke Rockhold was a ‘douche’. The former middleweight champion is set for a showdown with the brash Sean Strickland at UFC 269 on Dec. 11 inside of Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York.

Rockhold’s opponent, Strickland, also admitted that the former champ’s arrogance was offputting. Following Strickland’s expletive-filled rant about Rockhold, fellow UFC fighter Sean O’Malley shared his opinion about the former middleweight champion as well. In the latest episode of Sean O’Malley’s podcast on YouTube, the bantamweight described why he took issue with one of AKA’s senior members.

“There’s not anybody in the UFC I don’t like. I take that back, Luke Rockhold’s a douche. Other than that, god, it sucks, I can’t say that because he could… it’s hard to say that because he can beat me up so hopefully I just don’t get in a situation where it’s me and him in a room and I’m like ‘I didn’t mean that Luke. Lucas, I just thought what you said was douchey,” Sean O’Malley said.

O’Malley claims that he might walk back his statements about Rockhold if they were ever trapped in a room together. After all, the 135-pound star understands the massive size difference between the two. “Suga” insists that Rockhold was drunk at a party and began pestering O’Malley’s dad about his son losing to Marlon “Chito” Vera.

“They were in Whitefish. Luke [Rockhold] was drunk and he kept telling my dad ‘Chito beat your son’s a**.’ My dad said Luke was super (buzzed) but he kept saying ‘Chito beat your son’s a**.’ Why would he be like that? Luke said (to my father) ‘Do you not know who I am?’ And my dad said, ‘You look familiar but I don’t know.’ So that probably p*ssed him off. I don’t know the whole story,” Sean O’Malley said in an earlier episode of his podcast.

Apparently, Sean Strickland and Sean O’Malley share their disdain for Rockhold. After the bantamweight admitted that the former champ tried to antagonize his father after O’Malley lost to Marlon Vera, his opinion on Rockhold has soured. Unlike O’Malley, however, Strickland’s trash talk with Rockhold will reach heights we don’t often see between two combatants on a marquee pay-per-view.

Continue Reading Sean O’Malley: Luke Rockhold Is A Douche at MMA News.