Sean Strickland has been on quite the rollercoaster over the last several days.
The reigning UFC middleweight made headlines over the weekend when he got into a full-blown fistfight with No. 2 ranked contender Dricus Du Plessis at the promotion’s final pay-per-view of the year. The chaotic scene felt particularly on-brand for Sean Strickland, a fighter known to say and do pretty much anything he wants no matter the consequence.
However, Strickland’s motivation for the attack came as a surprise to everyone.
24 hours before their scuffle inside T-Mobile Arena, Strickland and Du Plessis engaged in a heated verbal confrontation at the UFC Seasonal Press Conference. It was there that ‘Stillknocks’ made an unsavory crack about Strickland’s history of growing up with an abusive father. Strickland lambasted Du Plessis on social media, showing that there are lines that even he won’t cross.
In the days since, Sean Strickland revealed that he had recently appeared on an episode of Theo Von’s popular podcast, This Past Weekend where the two had an incredibly emotional conversation about the champ’s childhood trauma.
Sean Strickland offers preview of his emotional podcast appearance
The episode is yet to be released, but Strickland shared a screenshot from his appearance and revealed that Von had offered to delete the footage after they delved into the very serious subject matter.
“PTSD can make a strong man weak or a weak man strong,” Strickland wrote on X. “Years and years of abuse just changes you as a man.. The hate just doesn’t go away. The sad truth is I’m one of millions but I only matter because there is a camera in my face… Most people just suffer in silence and drown their demons in alcohol or drugs.
“Theo thanks for saying you’d delete the video for me.. I wanted you to, hell still kinda do but at the end of the day.. it’s life….
Sean Strickland has quickly become one of the most polarizing figures in all of combat sports, known best for his often hilarious, yet sometimes vile hot takes on a variety of topics. In September, ‘Tarzan’ earned the respect of fight fans following his picture-perfect performance against Israel Adesanya to claim the middleweight title.
He will put his strap on the line for the first time at UFC 297 when the promotion returns to Toronto, Canada. Meeting him in the middle of the cage will be South African knockout artist and the man he threw hands with on Saturday (December 16), Dricus Du Plessis.