Sean Strickland’s very public beatdown of social media influencer, Sneako, has been so controversial that even UFC color commentator Joe Rogan is weighing in.
In case you missed it, Strickland made headlines last week for sparring Sneako at the UFC Performance Institute. Usually, professional fighters will take it easy while welcoming an in-experienced combatant into training, but Strickland held little back. The former UFC middleweight champion allowed Sneako to land a few good shots before unloading all hell and leaving the famous streamer bloodied and stumbling along the cage.
As you may have imagined, Strickland caught some serious backlash for how he handled his sparring session with Sneako. Some people thought Strickland went too hard, while others believed Sneako got exactly what he was asking for. Jake Paul came to the rescue of his fellow social media influencer and challenged Strickland to a $1 million fight.
Earlier this week, Rogan discussed the controversial sparring session and didn’t seem too happy with Strickland. However, Rogan also feels like Sneako should have known what he was getting into considering Strickland’s reputation around the combat community. Check out Rogan’s remarks in the above video player.
“He beat up that kid, who’s a smaller-than-him streamer named Sneako, which is not a good look” said Rogan. “He beat the sh-t out of that guy. I just don’t know why he wanted to do that. It’s so easy for him to beat that guy up.
“I don’t know what that kid thought. First of all, he’s so silly for doing that, for agreeing to do that with Sean Strickland. If you agree to do that with Israel Adesanya he won’t f—k you up. He’ll smile and laugh and he’ll hug you afterwards. I guarantee you can spar with him.
“Sean Strickland is a different animal. He’s got this man code and he believes in it. You’re essentially agreeing to let him beat the f—k out of you because you don’t really have a chance.”
In the end, Sneako seemed okay with the outcome of the sparring match. Despite Strickland’s unexpected beatdown, the well-known streamer stayed on his feet and gained the respect of many around the combat community. It was Strickland who looked like a bully and raised some questions.