Sean Strickland shared an opinion on Raja Jackson’s incident that some may find shocking.
Last Saturday in Los Angeles, Jackson attended a KnokX Pro Wrestling event while live-streaming it on his KICK channel, where he had a tense backstage confrontation with wrestler Stuart Smith, AKA Syko Stu. He then got the go-ahead from the promotion to perform a staged double-leg takedown and simulate an assault on Stu as a response to the earlier altercation.
However, as the match started, a scripted storyline meant to mix fiction with reality, common in pro wrestling, quickly spiraled out of control. Jackson carried his backstage tension into the ring and, seemingly provoked by his stream viewers, slammed Stu onto the canvas and unleashed a flurry of heavy, unanswered punches before other wrestlers stepped in to pull him off.
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Stu’s brother, Andrew Smith, has been keeping fans informed through Facebook posts, sharing on Monday that the U.S. Army veteran turned wrestler is now conscious and retains some memory of the events from the day of the attack.
Meanwhile, Raja Jackson has drawn widespread criticism from the combat sports community and the public for his shocking actions, yet Strickland has offered a polarizing perspective.
Sean Strickland Believes Jail Isn’t The Answer For Raja Jackson After Brutal Attack
Amid media reports that the Los Angeles Police Department is investigating Raja Jackson’s attack on Syko Stu, Sean Strickland took to social media to weigh in. The former UFC middleweight champion suggested that while Jackson should face consequences, but the best course of action would be rehabilitation rather than prison.
Drawing from his own experiences, Strickland argued that prison often hardens people instead of rehabilitating them and suggested that MMA legend Quinton “Rampage” Jackson’s son should be offered an opportunity for reform.
“Jackson’s kid [Raja Jackson] shouldn’t go to jail. Prison should always be a last resort. I was arrested at 19 for two felonies, a GBI. I would have spent 5 to 6 years in prison if the DA had its way. After 6 years in a cell, coming out with nothing, being indoctrinated with gangs and violence, I guarantee I would have killed someone. There was one guy telling me about how he picked up a murder charge, and I remembered being impressed by him. That would have been my future.
“Instead, I pled and took 100 days in jail or work release, a ton of anger management, and a decent amount of victim restitution after a miserable two years of court. Luckily, a lawyer took my case for free because I didn’t have a dollar to my name. Bottom line is, it’s not about the person in prison it’s about who they become when they’re out of prison, and I believe if I wasn’t offered that deal, I would be dead today and more than likely would have resulted in someone else’s death as well. My two cents… Rehabilitation over prison always,” Strickland wrote on X.
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