Sean Strickland has built a successful career that landed him a spot in the welterweight and light heavyweight divisions of the UFC. The American professional mixed martial arts fighter has won over 20 career fights to show for it.
While his career attracts lots of attention to him worldwide, he is known for causing distractions with some of his controversial comments. As it is, this has continued to make many curious about his life both inside and outside the octagon.
All the Intriguing Details about Sean Strickland
1. His Early Life and Age
Sean Thomas Strickland was born on February 27, 1991, in New Bern, North Carolina. Going by his date of birth, Sean is currently 34 years old. He never revealed the identity of his parents or siblings who he shared his early life with.
From available records, Sean did not grow up in North Carolina as they moved to California.
2. He Grew Up in an Abusive Household
Sean had a traumatic childhood due to his father’s physical and mental abuse of members of the Strickland home. This complicated his life so much that he could not concentrate in school as he was often kicked out whenever he attended.
Aside from this, he also had a bad relationship with his father whom he referred to as a monster. The fighter is said to have attacked his father while he was abusing his mother at some point. With this constant abuse, Sean’s parent marriage ended in divorce.
However, the fighter never revealed whether he and his father made peace before his death in his mid-50s from cancer.
3. Sean Strickland Started Martial Arts Training at the Age of 14
As is generally reported, Strickland’s abusive home pushed him into martial arts at the age of 14. Having discovered this new challenge, the young Strickland remained focused on the path and never turned back again.
4. The Combat Sports Fighter Launched his Professional Career at the Age of 16
Apparently, he is not one to put in a little effort into doing whatever he sets his sights on. No wonder he started his professional career at the age of 16 when other boys his age were likely still trying out for school programs.
He fought his first professional fight in 2008 under the King of the Cage Promotion. While under the promotion, he maintained a winning streak of 9 matches and held the middleweight title three times. His performances were so impressive that it got him a lot of coverage. At the same time, it placed him in a good position to move to other bigger promotions such as the UFC.
5. Strickland made his UFC Debut in 2014
The MMA fighter‘s dedication to his craft paid off when he made it to the UFC in 2014. The then 23-year-old fought his debut match against Bubba McDaniel at UFC 171 and won via submission. With this win in place, Strickland became a fighter to watch out for. Thankfully he won his next fight against Luke Barnett within the same year.
Sadly for him, his winning streak was broken when he faced Santiago Ponziinnio in 2015. However, this setback did not stop him from fighting others as he has since faced off with many.
6. His Career was Halted for Two Years Due to a Motorcycle Accident
While his career was just kicking off in the UFC, Sean suffered a minor stall due to a motorcycle accident that kept him out for two years. According to reports, he was hit by a car in December 2018 while he was riding his motorcycle in LA.
Aside from suffering from many injuries due to the accident, Strickland had to undergo a knee operation. While this kept him away from the ring for the next two years, it is worth mentioning that the period also coincided with the Covid 19 pandemic that shot down the whole world.
Thankfully, when things came back to normal, Strickland also had a comeback match in October 2020 which he won against Jack Marshman via unanimous decision. So far, he has won more than 20 fights and garnered titles such as the Performance of the Night award in 2020 when he won his match against Brendan Allen.
See Also: Who Is Gabriel Santos? Everything To Know About The MMA Fighter
7. Is Sean Strictland Married?
Considering his bouts and the trashings he gets in the octagon, many are curious about his love life outside of it. From what we gathered, Strictland is not married nor has he revealed details about his love life. Nonetheless, it has not stopped the speculations about the person he is dating.
In the past, he was linked to the adult film star, Karma RX, yet he refuted the claims. While celebrities and athletes may choose to give snippets into such details on their social media pages, Strictland updates focus on his career.
8. Strickland used to be a NeoNazi
According to the experienced fighter, he was a neo-Nazi in his youth. However, he changed his mindset when he got friendly with people from other races. Despite this admission, Strckland is known for making controversial statements whether on his social media or during interviews.
9. He Believes That Women Belong in the Kitchen
As mentioned earlier, Strickland is known for his controversial comments. One such instance is a sexist remark he made about the place of women. According to him, they should be taken back to the kitchen and removed from the workforce. Also, he went as far as referring to women’s right to vote as a mistake.
He made this known in his pre-match conference ahead of his headliner fight with Abus Magamedov slated for July 1, 2023.
10. Sean Strickland’s Net Worth
The fighter’s net worth is estimated above $1 million and he made this from his career of close to 2 decades. His estimated earnings per fight is as much as $100 thousand and this gives credence to his impressive net worth.
It would be recalled that he has also benefitted from the purse of other fighters who did not meet up the expectation. In 2020, he earned part of Marshman’s purse money when his weight went over the middleweight average by one and a half pounds.
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