Sean Strickland has transformed his fighting career over the past few years and MMA analyst Michael Bisping believes it all traces back to a motorcycle accident in 2018.
Strickland, who meets Jack Hermansson later tonight at UFC Vegas 47 live on ESPN+ from inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada, always possessed the talent to make a run at UFC gold. However, Strickland struggled to maintain consistency during the first four years of his UFC career and ended up losing big fights to Kamaru Usman, Santiago Ponzinibbio, and Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos.
Things changed for Strickland in late 2018 when a motorcycle accident coming back from the gym nearly ended his fighting career. Strickland was told he’d likely never fight again so it’s impressive to see the comeback he has made. It’s also been interesting to see how Strickland’s fighting style has changed since his accident over three years ago. The time off allowed him to ready his body for a move to middleweight and he put all of the pieces in the right place to forge a 4-0 record since his return in 2020.
Bisping, who has a good relationship with Strickland, recently spoke about the motorcycle accident during an episode of his podcast. The former UFC champion believes Strickland’s state of mind changed after recovering from the incident and it has provided him the freedom to fight without worry.
“He was in a nasty motorcycle accident. Remember that. And it almost ended his career, his leg was f—ked up, he was out for a while, and probably would never fight again,” said Bisping (via BJPenn.com).
“But Sean told me, he said he probably shouldn’t talk about it but he got a ton of money from the accident thru insurance policy’s.
“And the money is what changed his fighting style because if took away the stress of fighting. In the past he was so concerned about how he’s going to make it, it stressed him out.
“But since getting the payment and having money in the bank, he can do what he loves, and the money is good too, and he obviously wants more of it.”
Whatever clicked in Strickland’s mind it has allowed him to become one of the most dangerous middleweight contenders in the world today. If he is able to knock off Hermansson this weekend at UFC Vegas 47 he will have a 5-0 division record heading into the new year and a hot streak that could land him close to a title shot.
That’s incredible to think considering “Tarzan” was nearly forced to retire just a few years ago.
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