Former UFC Middleweight Champion Luke Rockhold has added a fresh layer to the UFC 328 build by explaining that his dislike of Sean Strickland goes back to shared gym time, where he says Strickland crossed lines in sparring and left a bad impression long before this title fight came together.
Former training partner airs harsh view of Sean Strickland as UFC 328 nears
Luke Rockhold did not hedge when discussing Strickland during a recent appearance on Ariel Helwani’s show, saying he first met him when Strickland “rolled into” a training camp and quickly stood out for the wrong reasons.
Rockhold said Strickland was “a loud idiot,” and claimed he was trying to beat up younger training partners who were there to help, even after hurting them. Rockhold’s quote was blunt and personal, ending with the claim that Strickland is “not a good person,” which frames this as more than routine pre-fight trash talk.
“Sean is truly a piece of sh-t… He showed up on our doorstep in training camp, and he was just a loud idiot. He was trying to beat up kids who were helping him and trying to knock them out consistently after he already hurt them. He’s not one of those guys I like to be around, and he’s just not a good person.”
Rockhold is currently helping Khamzat Chimaev prepare for UFC 328, where Chimaev is set to defend the UFC middleweight title against Strickland in the main event. UFC 328 is scheduled for Saturday, May 9, 2026, at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, and Chimaev enters the bout at 15-0 while Strickland comes in at 30-7. The matchup is Chimaev’s first middleweight title defense, which gives extra weight to every headline tied to the fight week narrative.
This is also not the first time bad blood has followed Strickland into a major fight. In the current UFC 328 cycle, the feud between Chimaev and Strickland has already spilled into public exchanges, with reports noting that the promotion took steps to keep the two men apart during fight week, including separate hotel arrangements and the removal of at least one planned face-off setting. Coverage around the fight has also pointed to repeated verbal shots from both sides as the event approached, keeping the rivalry active outside the cage.
Rockhold’s remarks land as they match a long-running image around Strickland’s gym style and public behavior, even if they remain his personal account of what happened in that room. They also revive an old link between the two men: Rockhold and Strickland were previously booked to fight at UFC 268 in 2021 before Rockhold withdrew. Now, instead of meeting him in the Octagon, Rockhold is part of the camp for the man trying to shut Strickland down in a title fight.
