Despite their vastly different personalities, outspoken middleweight star Sean Strickland and the much more reserved Chris Curtis have struck up one of MMA’s most intriguing friendships.
Strickland and ‘The Action Man’ were both in action at UFC 297 in Toronto with the former suffering a razor-close split decision loss to Dricus Du Plessis, surrendering the 185-pound title in the process. Hours ahead of their entertaining five-round scrap, Strickland once again made headlines after being asked about his previous anti-LGBTQ comments during an appearance at the pre-fight press conference.
Strickland proceeded to roast the journalist who identified themself as an “ally” of the LGBTQ community.
Speaking about his friend’s often outrageous and sometimes vile commentaries during an interview with TMZ Sports, Curtis confirmed that there are plenty of topics that the two are far apart on.
“Me and Sean disagree on a lot,” Curtis said. “There’s a lot of things I’m like, ‘Nope, I’m not gonna back you on this one’ for one reason or another and it’s funny that people would be like, ‘You’re a bad friend.’ No, I’m a good friend. I’m not a yes man. I won’t be a yes man for anybody. I’ll call Sean on his bullsh*t the same way he’ll call me on my bullsh*t. Good friends don’t jump off a cliff right behind you.
“A good friend is like, ‘You’re a f*cking idiot for doing this, and here’s why.’ So I don’t have to agree with everything he says or does. There are some lines he crosses where I will step forward. We’ve had talks before about certain things like this personally offends me or trying to protect you from yourself and getting screwed over. But I don’t have to agree with everything he says. I’m a grown-ass man and he’s a grown-ass man.”
While Sean Strickland came up short in his outing in The Great White North, ‘The Action Man’ returned to the win column following a 15-minute slugfest with Marc-André Barriault. Curtis moved up one spot in the middleweight rankings as a result, landing in the No. 13 spot. He has alternated wins and losses in his last four Octagon appearances.
“If you only have friends that you completely agree with 100% of the time, you’re probably a pretty sh*tty [and] shallow person and I just whatever,” Curtis continued. “I don’t have to agree with him and in a way, I think our vastly different personalities keep each other more centered, but it is what it is. He’s a f*cking grown man. He’s gonna say sh*t I don’t agree with. I’m gonna say sh*t he doesn’t agree with. It doesn’t matter. Grow up.”