Sean Strickland’s gruesome defeat in Sydney was particularly satisfying for controversial social media star Sneako.
The former UFC middleweight champion infamously smashed up Sneako in a sparring session last year, leaving him bloodied and continuing despite multiple towels being thrown into the cage. The streamer has never had a fight of any kind, and had just begun to train seriously with a view to an influencer bout.
And a year later, Sneako got a chance to see his rival get comeuppance in the form of an even more brutal beatdown at the hands of Dricus Du Plessis. The pair had a rematch in the main event of UFC 312, with the South African breaking his rival’s nose and winning all five rounds on the scorecards.
- Who is Sean Strickland? Get to know the controversial former UFC Middleweight champion
Sean Strickland viciously battered Sneako in live streamed sparring session
Last year during a visit to Las Vegas, controversial streamer Sneako was beginning to make an effort to train for an influencer boxing match. He made his way to Xtreme Couture, where Sean Strickland offered to take him in the cage for a sparring session.
Strickland is infamously something of a gym bully, going incredibly hard on Navy Seals and other non-fighters during sessions in an effort to show how serious UFC fighters are. And he was perhaps never as intense as he was with Sneako during their five minute round.
The pair were boxing only, and Strickland completely dominated the much smaller and less experienced streamer. He bloodied his rival and attempted to get him to go down, although to his credit Sneako managed to stay on his feet.
At multiple points before the round was due to finish, towels were thrown directly at Strickland in efforts to make him stop. But he continued on, insisting that Sneako must power through and keep on fighting with his injuries.
Sneako reacts as Sean Strickland is similarly smashed in UFC 312 main event
Since that fateful day, Sneako has rightfully had something of a grudge against Strickland. He has rooted against him in his career, and was delighted to see Dricus Du Plessis put an impressive beating on him in the octagon as he lost what may be his last shot at UFC gold.
Strickland has also made a number of controversial comments regarding the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine. This has irked Sneako, who is a Muslim revert that believes the Israeli response to Hamas attacks has been way over the top.
So the streamer revelled in seeing his bully get beaten up in Sydney, joking that he may now be heading to the influencer world since his top-level UFC career is over. “Love speech won,” he goaded while raising his hands and jumping around his room.
The streamer then broke into an impression of Strickland, saying: “Listen you guys, I might become an influencer now, now that there’s no more title shot I might as well start a Tik Tok and talk about how I hate Muslims.”
- Who is Dricus Du Plessis? Meet the UFC brawler putting South Africa on the MMA map