Strickland Lets Emotions Flow In Traumatic Podcast Recollection

Sean Strickland may present himself as the toughest guy in the room, but believe it or not, he’s still human like the rest of us.

If any fighter personifies an unfiltered open book more than “Tarzan,” we’ve yet to find them. Strickland, 32, has shared his opinions on just about any topic imaginable as well as revealed many stories about his personal life, including his troubled upbringing and family life as a child.

Ultimate Fighting Championship’s (UFC) Middleweight champion found himself targeted by his first title challenger, Dricus Du Plessis, for his rocky relationship with his father at the promotion’s seasonal press conference last month (Dec. 15, 2023). The spark from Du Plessis ignited a fiery exchange in the moment before they ultimately came to blows the day after in the crowd at UFC 296. Strickland has since shared on social media that he got emotional when reflecting on moments from his childhood on Theo Von’s podcast, This Past Weekend, which was released today (Mon., Jan. 1, 2024). The clip can be heard in the embedded player above.

“In second grade, I kept falling asleep at my desk and my teacher took my desk away from me,” Strickland said. “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,” he continued. “Like, f—k. I have f—king … it’s crazy s—t, dude. Crazy s—t, man (laughs).”

Von began trying to tell a story of his own after Strickland, but started to apologize as Strickland was noticeably “just processing,” as he’s heard saying.

“I think that’s one of the hard things people don’t understand about trauma, you know?” Strickland said.

Strickland’s 2023 overall was his best year yet in mixed martial arts (MMA), as he won three fights with the last being his biggest by unanimous decision over Israel Adesanya to become the new Middleweight champion. Strickland returns against the aforementioned Du Plessis at UFC 297 on Jan. 20, 2024.