Bryce Hall is a social media influencer turned boxer who recently made an appearance on Mike Perry’s Overdogs Podcast.
During the episode, Hall offered his hot take on UFC middleweight Sean Strickland’s intense trash talk and threats aimed at potential opponents. Hall essentially accused Strickland of going overboard in attempts to gain a mental edge by actively warning he will “kill” competitors once they enter the ring together.
While Hall conceded he understands Strickland’s motivation to psychologically unsettle and intimidate rivals, he believes the rhetoric crosses ethical lines and could seriously deter contenders from ever agreeing to face Strickland in the first place.
Hall said: “Sean Strickland that was like just a sparring thing, like ‘Hey I’d be down for it,’ and he said he was gonna kill me.”
Mike Perry then offers insights into Strickland’s psychological game. He says: “With the Sean Strickland thing, the fact that he says that right, he tries to cast fear into people before they ever even show up… I went I went to the gym to spar with him and he was busy doing media stuff… he knew I was coming and we were going to spar, and he was late so I grappled Gordon Ryan who that was probably worse than f**king Sean Strickland.”
“Sean Strickland tries to stay a step ahead of people and say that he’ll kill them, he’ll do this, he’ll do that, to make them think twice about even f**king stepping in the ring with them. But you know I mean that I don’t necessarily agree with but I also get what he’s doing.”
Perry then talks about the resilience of competitors against such psychological tactics with experience. He highlighted that seasoned contenders wouldn’t easily succumb to intimidation.
He says: “In 10 years from now you know if somebody were to say that to you after all these years of training and fighting, you would be prepared to show up and do what you needed to do regardless of what they say. He’s not going to pull a gun or a knife you know. He’s going to try to do it with his hands… I get what you’re saying where you think you can use your boxing abilities, your technique to stick and move, to move around, to dodge some punches, and you know see how you can wear him out in any way.”
Perry further remarks on the weight disparity, acknowledging the challenge Strickland’s 220-pound frame presents.
Perry continues: “But I mean he is also, there are weight classes for reasons. You know he would be tough for me to deal with cuz he’s over 200 plus pounds.”
Hall then replies: “I didn’t realize he was also 220.”
Perry continues: “Yeah he’s big, he’s a heavy weight when he’s not in the ring, you know. He cuts a lot of weight. But none of that s**t matters because you know what they say. The bigger they are the harder they fall bro.”
It’s clear Hall used the podcast to vent his issues with Strickland’s extreme intimidation efforts in the UFC sphere. The question remains whether Strickland violates ethical codes or simply promotes brawls as expected in the hyper-masculine sport.