Cutman Brad Tate reacts to Luke Rockhold wanting to end Sean Strickland's run in the UFC: "Who hasn't heard this sales pitch before?"
Luke Rockhold seemingly wants a UFC return to fight Sean Strickland but Cutman Brad Tate does not seem sold on the hypothetical showdown. These two have exchanged trash talk back and forth over the years with the bad blood still clearly persisting to this day.
On the Jaxxon Podcast, Rockhold sounded off on the controversial middleweight, with Strickland coming off of his UFC 302 co-main event split decision victory over Paulo Costa.
Addressing his feelings on the abrasive middleweight, Rockhold said:
"If you were Dana White, would you ever want this guy [Sean Strickland] fighting back for a title? I can't stand watching this motherf***** fight? F****** book me. Sign me up, Dana. I will f*****end this kid's life, I guarantee."
A theoretical clash between former UFC middleweight champions was discussed in a post on Instagram from MMA Junkie. Tate, the popular cutman for the UFC, did not seem keen on the idea of Strickland vs. Rockhold ever getting booked and commented on the post, saying:
"Who hasn't heard this sales pitch before?"
Check out Brad Tate's comment on Luke Rockhold calling out Sean Strickland below:
Luke Rockhold and the path since his last UFC fight
Luke Rockhold last stepped into the octagon against the aforementioned Paulo Costa. The 29-year-old would lose to Costa by way of a unanimous decision during their UFC 278 contest in August 2022.
Rockhold would then embark on a foray into bare-knuckle boxing and took on the biggest star in the sport today, Mike Perry. This took place at BKFC 41 in April of last year with the former UFC middleweight champion calling it a day after getting some of his teeth knocked out by Perry.
'Platinum' secured the win in the second stanza of that matchup with Rockhold, then transitioned to yet another combat sport thereafter.
The California native last fought in April of this year in the Karate Combat pit against former kickboxing world champion Joe Schilling. At Karate Combat 45, Rockhold emerged victorious from the main event showdown by finishing Schilling with strikes in the third round of their matchup.
Rockhold proceeded to call out former UFC opponent Lyoto Machida for a match in the Karate Combat pit but nothing has been formally booked by KC for Rockhold vs. Machida II as of this writing.
Rockhold is now poised for yet another brand new martial arts endeavor as he has a submission grappling quest in his sights. The former Strikeforce middleweight titleholder will take part in the inaugural Craig Jones Invitational with a one million dollar prize awaiting him should he win in this field.