Maybe Sean Strickland just needs a nice long hug from someone who cares.
That is the conclusion drawn by YouTuber-turned-pro-boxer Jake Paul, who suggested that Strickland’s tough guy act is nothing more than a facade designed to hide a man longing for the love and affection he never received from his parental figures.
Or perhaps Sean Strickland is just f*cking crazy.
Either way, it’s quite clear that ‘The Problem Child’ does not like Strickland’s schtick. Paul recently called ‘Tarzan’ out on social media after video footage of the former middleweight champion pummeling popular Rumble streamer Sneako during a sparring session went viral. Paul offered Strickland $1 million to fly to Puerto Rico and spar him in front of cameras.
“The guy seems to be having some sort of quarter-life crisis there and spazzing out on everyone trying to beat up some influencers and such,” Paul said about Strickland. “It’s a typical story of these UFC guys who call me out and then go quiet. I said I’ll send you to PJ. I’ve got DMs. I’ll put the DMs up on the screen. I said I’ll send you to PJ. Let me know where. We could spar for a million dollars.”
@jakepaul calls @SStricklandMMA a wannabe Alpha
pic.twitter.com/tHRlzoOppr
— EmmettGMMA (@emmettglenn) February 29, 2024
Paul then proceeded to share his DMs with Strickland. “Can you come next week? Any day works! Will send you a plane,” Paul wrote. Strickland responded, “I must my Twitter just seen this… What about a real fight? Idk if I can get the UFC on board but with their involvement I think we can make it happen. Conor did it with Mayweather…”
Their conversation concluded with Paul adding, “They’ll never let you fight me but you can ask them. I’m here ready to spar or fight lmk.” Strickland replied, “I’m gonna to talk to Hunter about a fight. Man that is a big f*cking paycheck let me see what I can do.”
Jake Paul Accuses Sean Strickland of hiding behind a ‘Tough man complex’
In a video on YouTube, Strickland confirmed that he had spoken to Hunter Campbell — the UFC’s chief business officer — who promptly shut down talks of the pairing.
“All of a sudden it’s, ‘Oh, I would get sued by the UFC if I sparred Jake,’ but you just sparred Sneako. You could spar with anyone. Contractually, in your UFC contract, it says nothing about sparring,” Paul said.
“I see a very insecure lost wannabe alpha male that’s hiding behind a tough man complex. He needs a hug. I’ll put my soft hands on his little bald and make him feel the love that his mother or father never gave him.“
Technically, the UFC cannot legally dictate who Sean Strickland spars behind closed doors, but Paul’s challenge was no standard sparring session between two athletes. Paul’s $1 million offer made it a business opportunity that would likely violate the terms of Strickland’s contract.