SEAN Strickland is a controversial figure, even in the adverse and eccentric world of mixed martial artists.
Here we take a look at his life, career and net worth.
Sean Strickland celebrating victory over Israel Adesanya to become the new middleweight champion on September 10, 2023 in Sydney, Australia[/caption]
Who is Sean Strickland?
Sean Strickland, born February 27, 1991, is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and is the current middleweight champion.
Sean’s formative years had a profound effect on him, paving the way for him to try his hand at mixed martial arts and compete in the octagon.
The influence of his late grandfather led the once-impressionable teenager to adopt a since-disavowed Neo-Nazi ideology.
“I was really f*****g angry,” the 32-year-old admitted when recalling his teenage years.
“I was so angry I actually went through this weird neo-Nazi, white supremacist phase when I was younger.
“And I got kicked out of school for hate crimes, like all this crazy s**t.
“I was angry and I had a lot of f***ed-up influences in my life that it felt so good to f***ing hate something.
“I would walk down the street with like a knife or a rock hoping to kill somebody.
“And when I started training I’m like man, you’re just f*****g angry.”
Like many who are brainwashed by extremist ideologies, Sean was sucked into the Neo-Nazi world in large part because he looked up to his late grandfather.
He admitted: “My grandfather was like this big piece of s**t.
“When you’re a kid you don’t see that, you hero-worship. He kinda just filled your head with crazy s**t.
“You’re in seventh grade spouting off about Nazis, you don’t even know what the f**k that means.
“But you hear it from someone you look up to and that identity consumed me.
“Drawing swastikas walking to school, like I didn’t know what the f**k that was.”
Strickland grew up in a broken home, with his alcoholic father regularly using him as target practice for his empty beer bottles.
He said: “I always joke about my childhood and say I wouldn’t relive it for a billion dollars. You got the abusive alcoholic father.
“Christmas was good, for about an hour, before the drinking started.
“I always joke that if you can dodge a beer bottle, you can dodge a punch.
“My grandfather, really racist. So I gravitate towards this. It felt so good to hate somebody. But it ruined my life.”
He said of his grandfather’s racist influence: “I kinda resented him for it. When you’re racist, you don’t get ahead in life.
“You’re f****d, man. There’s no privilege from being racist, so I resented him for the majority of my life.”
Mixed martial arts gave the angry and misguided Strickland a new outlook on life and helped him change his ways.
He said: “I remember the first time when I walked into the gym, I was a kid, and all my anger went away.
“It was the first time in my life — it makes me emotional just talking about it — that I ever felt happiness.
“And from there, I was hooked. If it wasn’t for this, I would probably have ended up in a prison cell.”
In a 2009 video, back when Sean had only competed in four professional fights, he explained why his nickname is “Tarzan” to a friend who was recording him.
He said: “[I have] long hair, I like to climb trees and, you know [I like to brawl].”
But in a 2022 interview with The Schmo, he said he’d have preferred his monicker to be “Hate”.
Strickland said: “I don’t know, man. It [Tarzan] doesn’t fit me, ya know?
“I’ve always liked ‘Hate’, but then again, that has some bad connotations, but I feel like it suits me.
“I’m kind of an angry motherf****r.”
The outspoken American headlined UFC 293 in Sydney, Australia, where he defeated Israel Adesanya for the middleweight crown.
On January 21, the middleweight champion will defend his title against surging South African Dricus du Plessis at UFC 297.
In the buildup to the fight, he made headlines for attacking Du Plessis in the VIP section of the T-Mobile Arena during the main card of UFC 296.
Strickland asked welterweight contender Gilbert Burns to move his children out of the way before jumping into Dricus and throwing several hard elbows his way.
Du Plessis took the shots and defended himself well before fellow fighters intervened.
Their exchange came 24 hours after Du Plessis mentioned the abuse Strickland suffered as a child, which was in response to the champion making homophobic comments.
And Sean has vowed to STAB his foe if he mentions his past again, saying: “I actually sent him a message.
“And I was like, ‘Dude listen, Dricus, we’re going to go try to murder each other, but if you bring that s**t up again, I will f****g stab you.’
“Press conference, weigh-in — I just told Dricus. He was cool about it, he was cool about it.
“But again, I’m not telling you I don’t want to fight you, Dricus. I’m not saying you’re not a good fighter.
“I’m just saying that that’s a line that, when crossed, it transcends fighting.
“Like, if I go to Canada and you bring that up, well guess what? I’m going to go to jail, they’re going to deport me, and we spent eight weeks of training for no f***ing reason.”
What is Sean Strickland’s fight record?
Sean’s UFC fight record is 28-5-0.
This means he has fought 33 times, winning 28 of those contests, losing five and drawing none.
He has won 11 of his fights by knockout, four through submission and 13 via decision.
What is Sean Strickland’s net worth?
According to most outlets, Sean’s net worth is around $2million USD (£1.58million).
He reportedly took home in the region of $500,000 USD (£394,000) for his last fight.
So with his upcoming title defence, his career earnings are due to make another leap upwards.
Who is Sean Strickland’s girlfriend?
In several online posts and interviews, Strickland has mentioned that he is in a relationship.
But he likes to keep aspects of his personal life secret, so no details about his partner are available.
In the UFC Embedded Vlogs, Sean’s girlfriend was referred to by the initials ‘KJ’.
Erik Nicksick, Strickland’s coach, said in an interview she was one of the pivotal reasons the fighter arrived at UFC 293 in a calm state of mind, leading him to win the title.
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