Sean Strickland and 3 other UFC stars who failed to live up to their pre-fight words

This past weekend at UFC 312, Sean Strickland failed to regain the middleweight title from Dricus du Plessis. Unfortunately, the fight was somewhat underwhelming.

Since UFC 312, Sean Strickland has come under fire from some critics following his performance, partially due to his pre-fight promises.

'Tarzan' isn't the first fighter in octagon history to talk up a good game and then not quite deliver, of course. The promotion's history is littered with more examples, although some stand out more than others.

With that in mind, here are three other classic cases of UFC stars who didn't quite live up to their pre-fight words.

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#4. Sean Strickland vs. Dricus du Plessis - UFC 312

It's probably fair to suggest that Sean Strickland didn't produce one of the worst showings in UFC history when he lost to Dricus du Plessis this past weekend.

After all, 'Tarzan' lasted the distance, survived a badly broken nose in the fourth round, and was never really in danger of being finished.

However, that hasn't stopped the former middleweight champ from coming under serious fire from some notable critics since the event.

Prior to UFC 312, Strickland essentially promised a 'war' with 'Stillknocks', and even went as far as saying he was willing to fight to the death with the South African.

In the octagon, though, he didn't really fight like that. Sticking to his usual gameplan of sitting behind his jab, 'Tarzan' never really looked to make the fight into a brawl, even when he was clearly behind on the scorecards.

Unsurprisingly, the juxtaposition between Strickland's pre-fight promises and his actions in the octagon have seen him criticised by former lightweight contender Din Thomas, and reigning welterweight champ Belal Muhammad. Muhammad even went as far as labelling Strickland a "coward."

Former welterweight contender Matt Brown has since defended Strickland - but even he did so by suggesting that taking too much from a fighter's pre-bout talk was not a good idea.

In this instance, then, Strickland was probably right to attempt to drum up interest in his bout with du Plessis. However, his pre-fight promises appear to have done far more harm than good to his overall reputation.

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#3. Georges St-Pierre vs. Nick Diaz - UFC 158

Legendary former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre is often recognised as not only the best fighter in UFC history, but the best fighter in MMA history, period.

Part of what made 'GSP' so great was his ability to shrug off the trash-talk of his opponents and simply stick to business inside the octagon. The Canadian was basically unflappable against foes like Dan Hardy and Josh Koscheck, and ignored their taunts to simply outclass them.

However, prior to his 2013 title defense against Nick Diaz, St-Pierre's usually stoic demeanour finally appeared to have changed.

In the build to the fight, 'GSP' spoke about how Diaz deserved to be beaten down, how he too had a "dark place" in his mind, and generally appeared more angry than we'd ever seen him. This was particularly apparent when it was suggested that he might be afraid of the former Strikeforce champ.

However, despite all of this, when it came to fight time, fans were left disappointed if they expected anything wild from the Canadian.

Instead, it was business as usual for St-Pierre, who used his jab, takedowns and ground-and-pound to ease his way to a victory by decision.

After the fight, many observers were frustrated by what they felt was another safety-first approach from 'GSP', particularly after all of his pre-fight promises of violence.

In reality, Diaz's accusation that St-Pierre was selling "wolf tickets" and that his apparent anger was all staged in order to build the fight was probably correct.

After all, in this case, it worked perfectly. The pay-per-view that the fight headlined - UFC 158 - drew nearly a million buys, far above the average for the time period.

Still, for a short time at least, St-Pierre's reputation was slightly damaged, with his 'dark place' taking on its own life as a social media joke not long after.

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#2. Carlos Condit vs. Nick Diaz - UFC 143

Georges St-Pierre wasn't the only fighter to promise big things in a fight with Nick Diaz, only to not quite deliver the goods in the octagon.

When Diaz defeated BJ Penn in late 2011, he was promised a welterweight title fight with St-Pierre in early 2012. However, when 'GSP' blew his knee out, the UFC found a viable replacement in the form of Carlos Condit, and booked him against Diaz in an interim title fight.

On paper at least, this bout looked fantastic. Not only were Diaz and Condit two of the best young 170 pound fighters on the planet, but Condit also had the same aura of danger around him.

Known as 'The Natural Born Killer', he'd been finishing most of his opponents, including Dan Hardy and Dong Hyun Kim, with serious violence. And when it came to building his fight with Diaz, he didn't mince his words.

He claimed that he expected a war and was ready to "get at it from bell to bell until one of us doesn't move any more". The end of a pre-fight PrimeTime series even saw a seething Condit apparently storm off-camera.

Unfortunately, those fans expecting a brawl for the ages were sorely mistaken.

Rather than look to "go to war" as he'd promised, Condit actually fought in a far more cerebral fashion. He used his movement, reach and kicking ability to pick Diaz off for the majority of the five rounds, eventually earning a decision win.

The fight quickly became controversial, as Diaz's fans felt he'd done enough to win, but the reality was that Condit had almost suckered him in with his promises of a brawl.

However, while the win gave 'The Natural Born Killer' his only taste of gold in the UFC, it also harmed his reputation with certain fans, who were expecting something crazy and received the exact opposite in the end.

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#1. Tito Ortiz vs. Forrest Griffin - UFC 106

Thus far, this list has dealt with fighters who promised to put on an exciting fight in the octagon and didn't quite deliver the goods.

However, former UFC light-heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz made other vows that weren't exactly true prior to his 2009 clash with Forrest Griffin.

'The Huntington Beach Bad Boy' didn't promise to "fight to the death" or "go to war" with the TUF 1 champion, who he'd previously beaten in 2006. Instead, he made another claim - that for the first time in years, he was healthy and good to go.

Ortiz had been racked with injuries prior to his brief departure from the UFC in 2008, with a serious knee surgery and numerous issues with his back and his neck hampering his abilities.

In an interview upon his return to the promotion prior to the Griffin fight, though, Ortiz claimed he was good to go thanks to a successful back surgery that had left him pain-free.

Unfortunately for 'The Huntington Beach Bad Boy', though, the fight didn't go his way. He was largely outmaneuvered by Griffin, who won a decision despite one judge confusingly scoring the fight for Ortiz.

In his post-fight interview, things got worse. Despite his pre-fight promises, the former champ was quick to address his health.

After admitting that he fought too emotionally, Ortiz stated that not only had he entered the fight with a "cracked skull" (later identified as an orbital bone injury), but that he was also suffering from bulging discs in his back.

Whether 'The Huntington Beach Bad Boy' reinjured himself in the time between the initial interview and the fight was a mystery of sorts. However, many fans felt frustrated by Ortiz, with some observers even going as far as accusing him of making excuses for his defeat.