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.

Strickland had an eight-fight stint at welterweight from 2015-2018, but returned to middleweight in 2020 after a two-year motorcycle accident-related layoff. He upset Israel Adesanya to win the title in 2023, but lost it to Du Plessis a little more than a year ago. The champ said he thinks Strickland never has been a worthy title challenger.

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,