The Xtreme Couture head coach sounded beyond frustrated with Strickland between every round of the defeat at the hands of Dricus du Plessis. From the third round onwards he had to be censored repeatedly by the ESPN+ broadcast when cursing at his fighter, begging Sean to throw straight right hands and show more aggression.

UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad has criticized Sean Strickland's display at UFC 312, and said his time as a middleweight contender should now be over.