Former UFC champ calls out Sean Strickland for 'b*tching out" at UFC 312: "You're more worried about fixing your f*cking nose"

A former UFC champ recently criticized Sean Strickland for paying excessive attention to his broken nose during the UFC 312 main event. He also dissed Strickland for having an inauthentic personality.

Strickland's second bid to capture the middleweight gold from Dricus du Plessis ended in another failure. Strickland endured a unanimous decision defeat this time as compared to his split decision defeat at UFC 297.

Apart from enduring a defeat, the encounter also proved to be far more taxing on Strickland's health. Du Plessis broke his nose with a powerful right hook in the fourth round of the encounter. Strickland couldn't refrain from adjusting it time and again while it kept on leaking blood till the final bell.

However, the former UFC middleweight champ, Luke Rockhold, recently derided 'Tarzan' for prioritizing his nose over the fight.

A recent X update from Ariel Helwani revealed the scathing remarks Rockhold made about Strickland during his appearance on an episode of The Ariel Helwani Show. He said:

"If someone breaks your nose, you gotta fight like a fu**ing man and sack up… This motherfu**er talks such a big game and then he bi*ches out and basically quits in a fight after he breaks his nose... When does [Strickland] ever fu**ing put his ass on the line and fu**ing bite down and really go for it through a whole process of a fight, not just the last 10 seconds of a round."

"World title is on the line, which is all you dreamed of, but you're more worried about fixing your f*cking nose," he added.

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Sean Strickland earned appreciation from former UFC star

Sean Strickland refused to give up even after Dricus du Plessis turned his nose into a leaky mess late in the fourth round of the fight. The California native kept on fighting till the final bell despite blood pouring down his nostrils towards his chin.

Luke Rockhold may have viewed Strickland's approach as an oversensitive one. But the former UFC BMF champ, Jorge Masvidal, couldn't refrain from lauding Strickland's in-octagon resilience as he continued fighting till the end of the encounter. One of Strickland's recent Instagram posts showcased a snap of him continuing to fight with his leaky nose.

Masvidal took to the comments section of Strickland's post to express his appreciation. He penned:

"👏 Warrior"

Jorge Masvidal's reaction to Sean Strickland's Instagram post. [Screenshot courtesy: @stricklandmma on Instagram]