Sean Strickland has finally admitted that he didn’t really punch a fan during his last visit to Australia for a world title fight.
The former middleweight champion won his belt by dropping and overpowering Israel Adesanya over five rounds back at UFC 293 in September of 2023. Despite being a massive fan favorite, Strickland had been generally relegated to Apex headliners, and was rarely on pay-per-view before the trip down under.
However, once he arrived in Australia his star power was instantly clear as he lapped up much bigger applause than the champion, who is from nearby New Zealand. And throughout the week, he was constantly making headlines with his antics.
- Who is Sean Strickland? Get to know the controversial former UFC Middleweight champion
Sean Strickland reportedly punched fan during last Australia visit
Perhaps one of the most mythologized stories of Sean Strickland’s Australian title triumph was his visit to Bondi Beach. Early in his trip, he ran into a fan, and as the story goes punched him when he went too far with his trolling.
The story goes that while visiting the famous beach with his girlfriend, a fan told Strickland: “Izzy is going to f— you up.” This prompted the confrontational challenger to haul off and punch him in the stomach, although no footage of this ever emerged, nor any sort of victim’s perspective.
“Boom, right in the guts,” Strickland told the media at the time. “I’d only been in Australia a day and already I’d committed an assault. Initially, I thought the guy was coming up for a photo. Because anybody who wants a photo, man, I love the fans.
“But if you wanna come up to me and run your f—ing mouth, I’ll smack you like I smack anybody else. Uppercut to his stomach. Then I walked away. But if I see the guy again, man, no problems… I’ll thank him for not pressing charges.”
Sean Strickland confirms he never punched a fan at UFC 293
However, Sean Strickland has now confirmed that the incident was blown way out of proportion. He never punched the fan, and has downgraded the issue to a mere light slap after the goading comment was made.
Speaking with Fox Sports Australia, he was asked if he would reunite with the fan whom he had punched, with the host joking that it was his ‘mission’ to get that man to his UFC 312 fight with Dricus Du Plessis on Saturday. And the now-challenger revealed that there was never a real punch.
“Let me tell you, I did not punch,” Strickland explained. “It was a friendly, like, ‘hey buddy, hey friend’,” When the host asked if it was closed fist he replied: “No, there was no punch, it was real nice, it was more of a handshake with a ‘nice to meet ya’.
“It was real nice actually, he was a real nice guy.” Strickland did however say that he would provide a ticket if the fan identified himself, adding: “I’d give him a ticket to the fight. I’d hook him up.”
- Who is Israel Adesanya? Step inside the career of the ‘Last Stylebender’ ahead of his UFC Saudi Arabia main event