Video: Strickland Waterboards Himself For Some Reason

Sean Strickland wanted to know how bad being waterboarded really was. Unsurprisingly, it was bad.

Sean Strickland is a big believer in trying new things to see what all the hype is about. That even extends to things like waterboarding, which “Tarzan” thought wouldn’t be “that bad.”

He stands corrected.

The former middleweight champion shared an old video where he gets waterboarded, and the friends who did it to him cut no corners. His hands are wrapped in wire and taped off, his face is covered with a cloth. They put him on what looks like a cold concrete floor and pour water over his face with a watering can.

Strickland’s verdict?

“When I was a kid I thought, ‘I wanna know what water boarding feels like, it can’t be that bad,’” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “I can tell you it was one of the most f—ed up things I’ve experienced lol.”

“You think, ‘I can just breathe lightly and take a big breath when the water stops.’ Nope you are 100 percent drowning … No matter what you do you can’t breathe.. it’s f—ed… When you see these youtubers like Steven crowder doing it saying ‘It’s no that bad,” because you weren’t f—ing water boarded lol.”

Waterboarding is widely considered torture and its use is banned in most countries. After 9/11 there was a massive controversy after it was discovered that the tactic was being used at CIA black sites and at Guantanamo Bay naval base during interrogations of terrorists linked to the attacks.

“It can’t be that bad,” was the consensus of many people who read those reports. The few who had the stones to try it themselves quickly backpedaled on that assertion, including Sean Strickland.

So what is Sean doing now? After defeating Paulo Costa at UFC 302, “Tarzan” plans to sit out and wait for a title shot. Considering the reception to his Costa fight he maybe be waiting a while. But he has reason to be optimistic that another chance at UFC gold may be coming.

His split decision loss to current 185 pound champion Dricus Du Plessis was widely panned, with many calling for a rematch to settle who won. And while Du Plessis expects to fight Israel Adesanya at UFC 305 in August, Strickland also has an in with Izzy — he beat Adesanya and took the belt off him in September 2023.

And Adesanya is looking for revenge.