UFC analyst ‘feels cheated’ by Sean Strickland after UFC 312 loss: “He’s not who he says he is!”

Din Thomas slams Sean Strickland for false promises following loss to Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 312 PPV headliner at Qudos Bank Arena.

UFC analyst ‘feels cheated’ by Sean Strickland after UFC 312 loss: “He’s not who he says he is!”

Din Thomas condemns Sean Strickland after UFC 312 loss vs. Dricus Du Plessis (Source: X)

Coach and analyst Din Thomas has seen enough of Sean Strickland after UFC 312 to start complaining about the way he fights. The way Strickland fights is a whole lot different than the wars he promises. After the UFC 312 PPV title loss against Dricus Du Plessis, that’s become apparent for the nth time now.

Prior to his lopsided loss to Dricus Du Plessis (23-2 MMA, 9-0 UFC) in the title fight, “Tarzan” promised he’d lay it on the line. That did not turn out to be the case. The champ even shattered his nose against his teep-heavy offense. Now, Din Thomas lambasts Sean Strickland for it.

We just have to admit it now – we have to admit it: Sean Strickland is not who he says he is…He’s not the guy who’s going to go to the death… ‘To the death.’ He didn’t go to the death. He didn’t even go deep. I’m not saying he’s not a great fighter. I’m not saying he doesn’t deserve to be where he’s at. But he’s not who he says he is. As a coach, I feel for Eric Nicksick because I know what it’s like…I know I’m hard on Sean Strickland. I know it but it’s because I’m cheated. I feel cheated by.

Din Thomas to Brendan Fitzgerald, Gilbert Melendez, and Anthony Smith on the UFC 312 PPV post-fight show Panel for @ESPNMMA
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Strickland’s boxing style and a lesser urge to step forward and answer have caught heavy fire many times before. However, this was different. There was widespread annoyance at Strickland’s strategy against DDP. His coach, Xtreme Couture’s Eric Nicksick, repeatedly urged Strickland to change it up. But Strickland stuck to his shelled-up jab and teep-heavy approach, just switching up the volume a little bit in R2.

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Strickland now stands 0-2 in head-to-head competition with DDP and consequently, funnily 3-1 against strike-heavy Africans. Francis Ngannou seemingly took well to Nicksick’s angling footwork and boxing drills better than Strickland. “Tarzan” never went to the deep end or showed that urgency ever since winning the UFC 185-pound title strap from Israel Adesanya.

Additionally, Din Thomas thinks the circumstances of public desire around wanting to see Strickland contend for undisputed gold again will dramatically change. However, there’s one person who saw the fallout a little differently.

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As the blood sprayed out of Sean Strickland’s nasal stem to all over his chest, it was more than a visual. It was a real struggle that the fighter did not help with his lack of striking urgency. Dricus Du Plessis has his unique fight style as well. But Strickland’s oh-so-great fighting stories and striking clinic chess match do not convert to much unless someone falls prey to it.

Dana White saw no 'quit' in a smashed-up Sean Strickland at UFC 312
Dana White saw no ‘quit’ in a smashed-up Sean Strickland at UFC 312 (Source: X)

The combat sport fans always sees gut and gore like this. Think back to Dustin Poirier spraying snot on slot from his nose and still going to war. He challenged the UFC 155-pound gold at UFC 302, last June and gave it his all. On the same card, in the PPV Co-main, Sean Strickland promised ‘war’ and went on to spam 1000 jab-jab-teep march combos and won a decision.

UFC CEO Dana White, though, saw it differently while nitpicking at Aussie legacy media in light of his $16 million deal with the NSW administration. To him, it was a testament to professionalism from the brash jungle man Tarzan.

I’ll tell you something fascinating that I noticed tonight for the first time. I don’t know why – Normally, when you have people who act the way that he acts, you see signs of it in a fight. Who is more focused, professional, and solid in a fight than he is? When he gets hurt, there’s no sticking out the tongue, or ‘No, no, that didn’t hurt me.’ He gets his nose broken, snaps it back into place, and keeps fighting.

Dana White durign UFC 312 PPV post-fight conference itnterviews

UFC 312 title challenger is 1-2 since once bagging the UFC middleweight gold in September 2023. He’s also 7-4 since he returned to the division in 2020. Both of the title losses in that stretch have come vs. champ Dricus Du Plessis.

Tarzan has landed 1,465 significant strikes in UFC middleweight competition; by far the longest streak in this weight class. However, those haven’t meant cutthroat urgency and success. But come to the spirit of keeping fighting, White says he’s got it with extreme confidence.

Related: Sean Strickland Net Worth, Endorsements, UFC contract, Wife and House