Sean Strickland had some harsh words toward Luke Rockhold when asked about his retirement.
Strickland (25-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC) and Rockhold traded plenty of barbs when they were scheduled to fight last November at UFC 268, but the bout never materialized after Rockhold withdrew because of a back injury.
Rockhold (16-6 MMA, 6-5 UFC) ended up returning against Paulo Costa this past Saturday at UFC 278 in what turned out to be a wildly entertaining battle. Rockhold lost and announced his retirement, which means Strickland won’t get the opportunity to throw down with him.
“I’m actually glad that he retired, man,” Strickland said in an interview with The Schmo. “You will not meet a human being that meets Luke Rockhold and says, ‘Man, this is a solid guy. I want to go hang out with him.’ Luke Rockhold is the definition of what an uptight c*nt is, and I’m glad that I do not have to hear his name or see him in the MMA community.”
Rockhold, a former Strikeforce and UFC middleweight champion, put up a valiant effort against Costa that won plenty of people over – but not Strickland, who said he didn’t even watch the fight.
“No one thought Luke was gonna win,” Strickland said. “We all knew that. You guys f*cking knew that. I knew that. F*cking guy is a champion. He does train. He wasn’t going to win, but like, he’s not a f*cking can. You don’t win a belt, even if he did win at a very easy time. You don’t win a belt and then f*cking suck.”
Strickland will look to rebound from his knockout loss to Alex Pereira at UFC 268 when he faces former title challenger Jared Cannonier in a Fight Night main event on Oct. 15.
