Former UFC Middleweight Champion Luke Rockhold has added a contemporary layer to the UFC 328 construct by explaining that his dislike of Sean Strickland goes again to shared health club time, the place he says Strickland crossed traces in sparring and left a foul impression lengthy earlier than this title combat got here collectively.
Former coaching associate airs harsh view of Sean Strickland as UFC 328 nears
Luke Rockhold didn’t hedge when discussing Strickland throughout a current look on Ariel Helwani’s present, saying he first met him when Strickland “rolled into” a coaching camp and shortly stood out for the incorrect causes.
Rockhold mentioned Strickland was “a loud fool,” and claimed he was attempting to beat up youthful coaching companions who had been there to assist, even after hurting them. Rockhold’s quote was blunt and private, ending with the declare that Strickland is “not an excellent particular person,” which frames this as greater than routine pre-fight trash discuss.
“Sean is really a bit of sh-t… He confirmed up on our doorstep in coaching camp, and he was only a loud fool. He was attempting to beat up youngsters who had been serving to him and attempting to knock them out constantly after he already harm them. He’s not a kind of guys I prefer to be round, and he’s simply not an excellent particular person.”
Rockhold is at the moment serving to Khamzat Chimaev put together for UFC 328, the place Chimaev is ready to defend the UFC middleweight title in opposition to Strickland in the principle occasion. UFC 328 is scheduled for Saturday, Might 9, 2026, on the Prudential Heart in Newark, New Jersey, and Chimaev enters the bout at 15-0 whereas Strickland is available in at 30-7. The matchup is Chimaev’s first middleweight title protection, which provides further weight to each headline tied to the combat week narrative.
That is additionally not the primary time dangerous blood has adopted Strickland into a significant combat. Within the present UFC 328 cycle, the feud between Chimaev and Strickland has already spilled into public exchanges, with studies noting that the promotion took steps to maintain the 2 males aside throughout combat week, together with separate lodge preparations and the elimination of not less than one deliberate face-off setting. Protection across the combat has additionally pointed to repeated verbal pictures from each side because the occasion approached, maintaining the rivalry lively outdoors the cage.
Rockhold’s remarks land as they match a long-running picture round Strickland’s health club model and public conduct, even when they continue to be his private account of what occurred in that room. Additionally they revive an previous hyperlink between the 2 males: Rockhold and Strickland had been beforehand booked to combat at UFC 268 in 2021 earlier than Rockhold withdrew. Now, as a substitute of assembly him within the Octagon, Rockhold is a part of the camp for the person attempting to close Strickland down in a title combat.
