Sean Thomas Strickland is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the middleweight division of the UFC. He was was born on February 27, 1991 in New Bern, North Carolina.
Strickland was raised by a physically and psychologically abusive father in Corona, California. He was expelled from each school he attended due to his problems at home. Strickland started learning mixed martial arts at the age of 14, and at the age of 16 he became a professional.
Strickland made his professional debut in 2008 for the King of the Cage company. He amassed an unbeaten record of 9-0.
Strickland then went on to compete against Josh Bryant for the King of the Cage Middleweight Championship at KOTC: Unification in December 2012. He ended up winning the match via split decision.
Strickland successfully defended his championship three times before being hired by the UFC.
He made his UFC debut in March 2014 against Bubba McDaniel. Strickland won the match via rear-naked choke submission in the first round.
In February 2015, Strickland competed in a welterweight match at UFC Fight Night 61 against Santiago Ponzinibbio. He lost the back-and-forth match via unanimous decision.
At UFC Fight Night 83 in February 2016, Strickland competed against Alex Garcia. He won the match y TKO in the third round after a back-and-forth opening two rounds.
In April 2017, Strickland faced off against Kamaru Usman at UFC 210. He ended up losing the match via unanimous decisions.
In October 2018, Strickland competed against Nordine Taleb at UFC Fight Night 138. He won the match in the second round via a technical knockout. After the match, Strickland decided to finish out his contract and become a free agent.
In October 2020 at UFC Fight Night 181, Strickland was slated to take on Wellington Turman after a two-year absence due to a motorbike accident. Turman was replaced by Jack Marshman on September 29 after pulling out due to COVID-19 sequelae that prevented him from training after his two-week quarantine finished. Strickland ended up winning the match via unanimous decision.
Strickland was scheduled to compete against Uriah Hall at UFC 265 in August 2021. The match with Hall was moved to the main event of UFC on ESPN 28 in July 2021.
Strickland got into a violent disagreement with sparring partner Orlando Sanchez (BJJ) during his training camp leading up to this bout. He accused Sanchez of employing a potentially harmful submission that could have easily hurt him. Hall was beaten by Strickland in the match via unanimous decision.
At UFC Fight Night 200 in February 2022, Strickland squared off against Jack Hermansson. Strickland ended up winning the match via split decision.
Alex Pereira and Strickland competed in July 2022 at UFC 276. Strickland was knocked out in the first round of the bout.
Strickland then competed against Jared Cannonier in December 2022 at UFC Fight Night 216. He ended up losing the match via split decision.
![UFC Vegas 66: Jared Cannonier vs. Sean Strickland results [UPDATED]](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/https%3A%2F%2Ffansided.com%2Ffiles%2F2022%2F12%2FABC06049.jpg)
In January 2023 at UFC Fight Night: Strickland vs. Imavov, Strickland competed against Nassourdine Imavov in a light heavyweight matchup. He won the match by unanimous decision.
Strickland will be competing against Abusupiyan Magomedov at UFC on ESPN 48. The match is scheduled to take place on July 1, 2023.
Strickland has acknowledged that he was a neo-N**i when he was young. He stopped being one after making friends with individuals of many ethnicities who assisted him in his life.
Sean recently started a podcast on YouTube named ‘The Man Dance’ with Chrish Curtis.
Strickland is known for often making provocative and sexist statements on social media.
