UFC middleweight Sean Strickland was involved in a heated confrontation with his grappling partner ahead of his first UFC main event.
But a recent training session ahead of his next Octagon walk didn’t quite go as the 30-year-old had planned…
In short clip posted to his Instagram, Sean Strickland can be seen grappling with ADCC gold medalist Orlando Sanchez. After the former secured an underhook, “The Cuban Tree Stump” can be seen cranking Strickland’s arm at the elbow.
Given the recent arm injuries to Jacare Souza and Jamahal Hill, it’s unsurprising the American reacted the way he did, especially given each fighter’s responsibility to protect their partners while training.
Strickland captioned the post: “Soo who was the bigger c**t here? Me or @orlandogb72 ??!?! Lol And yes there will be a rematch Friday lol!!!”
We won’t be giving prizes to anyone that answers that question correctly…
Watch the full aftermath of the incident in the leaked video below.
Having returned to action last year following a long layoff after a motorcycle accident, Strickland could really do without his teammates risking his limbs during training, especially given his form, which has seen him defeat the likes of Brendan Allen and Krzysztof Jotko on his way to building a four-fight winning streak.
After Strickland’s expletive-filled reaction, Sanchez attempted to explain his actions.
“That was not malicious whatsoever…If I wanted to f*****g break it I would have f*****g broken it in half. Watch the f*****g video. You need to learn how to not get underhooks like that, it’s a dangerous position to put your arm. Now you learned something.”
Why Sanchez decided that was a better route to go about explaining it than, you know, just explaining it, we’ll never know. What we do know is that Strickland will be keeping a close eye on his arm placement when they enter the cage again on Friday.
What do you make of Strickland’s training incident?