Sean Strickland is pretty good at getting on someone’s bad side.
For Belal Muhammad, the former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Middleweight champion expressed too much hypocrisy and attention-seeking in a previous exchange. Since then, Muhammad and Strickland have had some verbal back-and-forths and even a run-in at the UFC Performance Institute (P.I.).
Strickland, 33, has never been the most sensitive of individuals, depending on the topic at hand, which is where Muhammad first drew issue.
“Honestly, I had no care about him at all until I posted one thing about Palestine and it was literally like three years ago,” Muhammad said on money loyalty legacy. “Same thing, they were getting bombed and he just commented on there when it had nothing to do with him because he likes to just put his nose into stuff and get attention.
“He said something like, ‘They need to just give up. They’re gonna end up losing anyway, they just need to bend the knee,’” he continued. “It was like the stupidest statement ever, but he did it just to get attention and get a comment out of myself. So, when somebody like that, who’s laughing at people dying and making a joke of it, it just shows what kind of person he is. He’s like a piece of trash.”
Muhammad, 35, highlighted the contrast between Strickland’s struggles with the comments he makes. This past January 2024, the build to Strickland’s last fight against Dricus du Plessis at UFC 297 brought out mentions of Strickland’s father and rough upbringing. Ultimately, it led the then-champion to speak on the matter in a podcast with Theo Von that saw the emotions flow.
“Recently where he was crying on Theo Von about his dad and, ‘You can’t talk about my dad. Don’t bring up family. That’s dirty when you do it,’” Muhammad said. “But you’re literally talking about kids that just got bombed. Kids that are dying and you’re making a joke of it, but when it comes back to you — it was all fake. It was trying to get that clout.
“Sean Strickland has too many followers because they’re waiting for that one stupid thing he’s gonna say and he understands that now,” he continued. “So, that’s why he continues to do it and continues to play off that role of ‘I’m this crazy dude and I’ll stab you if you do anything, bro.’ He doesn’t. He’s not gonna do anything. He’s all talk.”
Muhammad will get his long-awaited Welterweight title shot at UFC 304 against Leon Edwards in two months (July 27, 2024). Before that, Strickland looks to rebound off his du Plessis loss (watch highlights) with a win over Paulo Costa at UFC 302 next weekend (Sat., June 1, 2024).