Sean Strickland on Luke Rockhold’s retirement: ‘I’m glad I don’t have to hear his name’

When a fighter retires most of the time even their rivals will have some kind parting words, but Sean Strickland is not most fighters.

Former middleweight champion Luke Rockhold announced his retirement following his UFC 278 loss to Paulo Costa. “I can’t do this sh*t anymore,” the 37-year old told commentator Joe Rogan after the loss.

Rockhold made his way to the UFC after the fight promotion purchased Strikeforce in 2011. He held the Strikeforce middleweight title at the time. He was defeated by Vitor Belfort his in octagon debut but strung together a five-fight winning streak that was capped off by winning the UFC belt by defeating Chris Weidman in December 2015.

He was defeated by Michael Bisping in his first title defense and never regained a foothold in the top of the division again. His loss to Costa was the first time Rockhold had fought since July 2019.

Strickland was glad to see Rockhold step away from the sport, but maybe not for the reasons one might think.

“I’m actually glad that he retired,” Strickland told The Schmo. “You will not meet a human being that meets Luke Rockhold and says, ‘man, this is a solid guy. I want to go hang out with him.’ Luke Rockhold is the definition of what an uptight c*nt is, and I’m glad that I do not have to hear his name, or see him in the MMA community.”

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