Luke Rockhold, a well-known figure in the fighting world, has shared his thoughts about Sean Strickland. He’s of the belief that Strickland isn’t the most reliable when it comes to training together.
Strickland’s fondness for hard sparring is no secret. In fact, he’s even boasted about breaking multiple noses in the past.
Rockhold, a former middleweight champion, recently shared a story about Strickland’s visit to RVCA in Costa Mesa, California. Apparently, Strickland, known as “Tarzan”, crossed a line with a sparring partner.
Rockhold’s description of Strickland is far from flattering. “He’s just that guy that doesn’t care,” Rockhold said on the JAXXON Podcast. “He’ll try to kill you.”
Strickland’s behavior at RVCA left a lasting impression on Rockhold. “Sean Strickland walked into RVCA one time and he was such a loud mouth idiot, I was like, ‘Who the f—k is this guy?'” Rockhold recalled.
Rockhold was so frustrated with Strickland that he considered sparring with him. “I was so hungover, so annoyed, I was like, ‘F—k, I’m going to get in a spar with this guy, I can’t even take it.'” But he had seen Strickland hurt a guy in the gym with a head kick.
Rockhold recounted the incident. “With like 30 seconds left, he wobbled him. And [the coach] was like, ‘Keep going, finish out the round.’ Instead of what most people would do which is try to work with him — especially when you’re on somebody else’s turf — Sean went straight back to that head kick and tried to knock him out multiple times.”
Strickland’s recent loss of his middleweight championship against Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 297 was a split decision. Meanwhile, Rockhold had a rough patch in 2022. He parted ways with the promotion after a three-fight losing streak. He then suffered a one-sided defeat against Mike Perry in a bare-knuckle clash at BKFC 41.