Sean Strickland continues to be flooded with criticism for his head-scratching showing in his UFC 312 rematch with Dricus du Plessis. After promising a ‘fight to the death’, Strickland struggled with consistent output at UFC 312, losing by unanimous decision in a similar showing to their first clash.

Sean Strickland defeated Paulo Costa, Rockhold's final opponent in the UFC, by decision to insert himself into a title fight with du Plessis, despite Robert Whittaker doing the same a few months prior at UFC 298 and one-upping the American with another win in the summer.