"You can't love yourself that much" - Sean Strickland goes off on Luke Rockhold as he recalls their sparring session
It's safe to assume that Sean Strickland dislikes Luke Rockhold with a passion.
Strickland continues to go after Rockhold after the latter pulled out of their supposed bout. Appearing on Michael Bisping's Believe You Me podcast, Strickland recalled the time he sparred with Rockhold, saying:
"I like to give the old dogs respect. He was the champion; he's earned some f***ing dignity even though he's a d***. So I sparred with him, I'm being really nice. The whole gym is watching and all of a sudden he just blasted this hard kick... And after that I was like, 'I guess I'm gonna try to kill you right now.' I clipped him hard and he ran from me and when the second round came he just kinda left the mat and walked away. The thing about Luke Rockhold, he's just a f***ing c***. You can't love yourself that much. You can't do it."
Bisping, of course, had his own rivalry with Rockhold years ago. The Englishman famously knocked Rockhold out to capture the UFC middleweight title at UFC 199 in 2016. Needless to say, the two enjoyed taking turns roasting the former 185-pound titleholder.
Sean Strickland reacts to Luke Rockhold withdrawing from there fight at 268 https://t.co/NDe2TAL5Vw
Last week, Rockhold announced that a back injury had forced him to withdraw from his scheduled bout with Strickland at UFC 268. Following the announcement, Strickland accused Rockhold of ducking him and suggested the 36-year-old was never going to take the fight in the first place.
Sean Strickland warns Belal Muhammad that he will 'smack him' on sight
No. 13-ranked UFC welterweight Belal Muhammad has offered to climb to the 185-pound weight class to fight Sean Strickland in place of Luke Rockhold. According to Muhammad, he's willing to step out of his comfort zone to get an opportunity to hurt Strickland, whom he admittedly said he hates.
Not one to let things slide, Strickland responded by sending a warning towards the welterweight contender. 'Tarzan' said:
"Here's the thing about these a**holes [that] I don't like. They just run their f***ing mouths. It's like, dude, I fight for money, bro... At the end of the day, this fighting for money isn't even fun. It's stressful, one bad move and you're f***ed up. Like, it's not that fun and I just hate all these fighters that think they can just run their mouths like when I see you, I'm gonna smack you. Like Belal Muhammad. When I see you, I'm gonna f***ing smack you!"
Check out Sean Strickland's interview with Michael Bisping: