There’s a particular breed of combat athlete who approaches training with a certain laissez-faire attitude. These are the guys who roll first, ask questions later, and prioritize action over aesthetics.
According to a recent conversation on the BJJ Balance Podcast, UFC Champion Sean Strickland is apparently leading this charge, at least when it comes to his gi hygiene.
During a listener Q&A segment on the podcast, hosts Kenny and Matt were discussing with guest Craig Jones some of the worst training partners to roll with. The question came up: who’s worse: stinky guard pullers or 10th planeters?
The consensus was clear: stinky always wins. But it was one of the hosts who dropped the real kicker.
“Sean Strickland had a smelly a*s gi,” host Matt Veiga revealed. “Sean had the smelliest gi when he’d roll because he don’t give a f**k about gi. So he’d be like, ‘Oh, we’re doing gi. All right.’ And he just go grab it out of his old Frontier pickup and just be like, ‘This thing has just been in the back of your bed of your truck.’ And he just lets it air out.”
Let that sink in for a moment. We’re not talking about a gi that’s been forgotten in a gym bag for a few days. We’re talking about a gi that’s been sitting in the back of a pickup truck, exposed to the elements, untouched by soap or water, just waiting for its next call to duty.
Host Matt noted, “And I’m like, ‘F*ck, dude.’ And his jiu-jitsu is pretty good.”
Here’s where it gets interesting. Despite (or perhaps because of) his rather unconventional approach to gi maintenance, Strickland’s jiu-jitsu is actually solid.
Praising Strickland’s jiu-jitsu, Jones said, “His jiu-jitsu is good. He talks down. I mean he has the same approach to jiu-jitsu that I do with my d**k. We talk it down so much that it’s impressive.”
