Strickland downplayed it as an issue when asked at the pre-fight press conference, but it has since been revealed that he had a case of the virus several weeks prior to UFC 312. That was just one of the problems he had to navigate throughout training camp, because Strickland said he also experienced an arm injury that he described as a break.

In the video, Strickland admitted to dealing with a staph infection and another serious injury issue. The word ‘struggle’ was used to describe what he viewed as a disastrous camp for his rematch with Dricus Du Plessis. “That entire fight camp was just a struggle. It was a f—— struggle,” Strickland said.

Sean Strickland gave Dricus Du Plessis full credit for defeating him in their UFC 312 rematch. In his first statement since leaving the octagon after a unanimous decision loss to Du Plessis on Saturday in Sydney,

Sean Strickland stepped into the octagon at UFC 312 with hopes of reclaiming the middleweight title but his performance left many questioning his approach. Even his own coach Eric Nicksick was not impressed with what he saw in the main event against Dricus Du Plessis.

Beaten middleweight title challenger Sean Strickland has been given a brutally honest dressing down by his trainer Eric Nicksick following his performance at UFC 312 in Sydney.