On JRE MMA Show #187, Joe Rogan and Robert Whittaker discussed Sean Strickland’s unusual approach to combat sports and the controversy that surrounds him. Rogan’s view was that Strickland’s remarks can help make a matchup a bigger draw, especially when the UFC needs to sell a match.
“If you’ve got a world champion, you know, like Khamzat, and you need someone to compete against him, who better to sell the damn match than Sean Strickland,” Rogan said. “He’s going to talk mad amounts of [ ].”
Whittaker added that Strickland’s comments could become racist, and Rogan agreed that the controversy brings attention.
“It’s going to be racist. And you know that gets people watching. Just because of the controversy of it all,” Whittaker said.
Rogan agreed, saying, “Well, he knows how to stir up the pot.”
The conversation was about more than promotion. Rogan and Whittaker also considered what makes Strickland difficult to face in the cage. Rogan described his style as unusual and pointed to his ability to keep sparring while limiting the damage he takes.
He stated, ” Well, he’s got a very elusive style. It’s a weird style. Stand straight up. Hard to take down. Deep kicks to the body. And a lot of it is predicated on that right leg being all [ ] up. You know, he blew his leg apart in a motorcycle accident. Like he’s missing a big piece of his quad.”
The two also discussed Strickland’s comeback after a motorcycle accident left him with a serious leg injury. Rogan said part of his combat style is shaped by damage to his right leg, including a missing piece of his quadriceps.
Despite that history, Rogan said that Strickland competes intelligently and can be underestimated because of his comments.
“He’s a very unusual guy and very underestimated in terms of his intelligence because he says so many wild things,” Rogan said. “But he competes intelligently and it’s a difficult style.”
He pointed to Strickland’s performance against Anthony Hernandez, saying Hernandez had been on a strong run but Strickland “just beat the brakes off of him.”
