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When written down, Sean Strickland’s statements are never a good read. But if you listen to the delivery, his voice doesn’t seem to have a strong sense of malice or hatred.
What you hear are statements from an individual with deep-rooted issues that, to his credit, he acknowledges. This particular side of Strickland surfaced during a conversation with comedian Theo Von but in a much different light.
Sean Strickland: The People’s Champ
You’ve likely seen this description for Sean Strickland. And whether you chuckled or felt off by some of his remarks, he did become relatable to many MMA fans with his ‘man of the people’ vibe.
This conversation with Theo Von was more like a therapy session, with this particular segment seemingly hitting hard the most.
Strickland has always been open about this late abusive father. But here, goes into detail about one memory that stood out.
Here, he also explained his seeming fetish about committing murder and shared some physical manifestations of severe anxiety.
“When I talk about, ‘I’d kill a man,’ you don’t understand. You go through that level of trauma; you’ll just view the world differently.
“I have a hole in my gum ‘cause I’d have so much anxiety as a kid, and I would just scratch my gum. Until I’m just… blood.”
Strickland drew in props and a show of support from a handful of fans for this vulnerable moment.
‘There can’t be a god’
Sean Strickland heard the most awful things from his father, from the most vivid murderous threats towards his mother and ‘burning her face with acid’ to being embarrassed in school.
It was a traumatizing eye-opener that brought him to doubts and dark thoughts at a young age.
“Being a kid, laying in bed, like, ‘Man, f—ng, I’m done with this s—. There can’t be a god.”
Sean Strickland draws the line on trash talk
Say what you want about Sean Strickland, but one thing that separates him from many of his peers is his moral code when it comes to gamesmanship. Unlike certain names who have the same polarizing persona, there are lines he wouldn’t cross, and for good reason.
“You don’t really talk about a man’s wife, you don’t talk about a man’s kids, and you don’t talk about a kid being abused. These things are all off limits. Once he crossed that … I tried to f–ng ignore it. I was boiling,” he recalled.
“Whenever Dricus goes on there, and he jokes about that s—, dude, you have no idea. I’ll f–ng kill you. You have no idea.
“I think the issue is, too, when you’re a kid and you’re made to be a victim your whole life, as an adult, you’re like, never again. I’ll f–ng kill you.”
The moment when the UFC 296 brawl almost went ugly
Sean Strickland’s brawl with upcoming challenger Dricus Du Plessis was already chaotic on all levels. But according to the champ, it almost went ugly to the point that it would’ve inflicted irreparable career damage for him.
Fortunately for him, he was able to be mindful enough to stop himself.
“I’m so happy they didn’t get it from a right angle – I bit him. I s— you not.
“Whenever he went into me, I remember at that moment, he tackles me, and right there, you see my head goes up toward him. I started thinking, ‘How can I hurt this man? I’m going to take a f–ng chunk out of him. I’m going to bite his f–ng ear off.’
“I remember telling myself at that moment, ‘Sean, you can’t do that, that’s something you can’t walk away from.’ If you do that, then I’m going to jail.”
Here’s the two-hour episode with Theo Von and Sean Strickland:
Sean Strickland’s first title defense
Strickland’s maiden title defense will happen at UFC 297. It will take place on January 2oth at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.
Co-headlining the event is another title fight for the vacant women’s bantamweight championship between former challenger Raquel Pennington and Mayra Bueno Silva.