Even though Sean Strickland gives the impression of being the strongest person in the room, he is still just human like the rest of us. It seems like he resonates more with human vulnerabilities than one might assume.
The 32-year-old Strickland has openly expressed his thoughts on almost every subject conceivable. He has also divulged several details about his personal background, including his difficult childhood and early years spent with his family.
During the promotion’s annual press conference last month, the middleweight champion discovered that Dricus Du Plessis (his first opponent for the title defense) was targeting him because of his tumultuous relationship with his father.
The two exchanged punches in the UFC 296 audience the next day. Later on social media, Strickland revealed that he became upset while thinking back on childhood memories on Theo Von’s podcast named This Past Weekend. This podcast was released recently.
Strickland recounted an incident from his early school years, highlighting the misunderstanding of his situation.
He said: “In second grade, I kept falling asleep at my desk and my teacher took my desk away from me. She made me stand up and so, me, I’m like, ‘F—k you’ and being this little kid, I just went and fell asleep on the ground. Mind you like, the school system’s like, ‘Oh, Sean, he’s just a bad kid.’ They don’t realize I’m up until three o’clock in the morning.”
“I remember laying in bed, I remember when I stopped believing in god, man. Like, f—k. I have f—king … it’s crazy s—t, dude. Crazy s—t, man (laughs).”
After Strickland, Von started attempting to share a story of his own. But he quickly apologized because Strickland was apparently “just processing.”
Strickland said: “I think that’s one of the hard things people don’t understand about trauma, you know?”
Overall, Strickland’s 2023 MMA career was the finest it has ever been. He won three bouts, the most significant of which was a unanimous decision victory against Israel Adesanya to become the new middleweight champion.
On January 20, 2024, Strickland will make his comeback against Du Plessis at UFC 297.