Sean Strickland, the former UFC Middleweight Champion, has opened up on his mental health struggles.
Strickland has been open about his abusive childhood at the hands of his father, but those struggles did not prevent him from reaching the pinnacle of the sport. He beat Israel Adesanya at UFC 293 to win the middleweight title, shocking the world. While that may have been the case, he could not defend it successfully against Dricus du Plessis, losing at UFC 297.
But before the build-up for the du Plessis fight, Strickland was involved in an altercation with the South African. They attended UFC 296 to see Colby Covington take on Leon Edwards as the latter defended his UFC Welterweight Title. Strickland walked up to du Plessis and began punching him as security intervened. And the American admitted that he can lose his cool.
Strickland On His Mental Health
“The problem with therapy, I think they would just convince me to like f*cking start killing everybody. All week I’ve been f*cked up, dude. I’ve been on the Twitter saying crazy sh*t, just f*cking spiraling. I woke up and I told my girl, I was like, ‘Babe, I feel like I’m a danger to people.
“Like I don’t feel like I should be out in the world.’ And I think that – I have everything. I’m rich, I’m famous, I have everything I ever f*cking wanted and I am still mentally unwell. I get in these mindsets to where like I want to burn everything down in the world. Like, I want to have nothing, so I can just f*cking lose it and just take out everything on people,” Strickland said
Strickland’s Controversies
The fighter has also been involved in confrontations with Jake Paul and rapper Machine Gun Kelly. He crossed paths with Jake Paul on social media after the Problem Child criticized him for sparring with influencer Sneako. Strickland dominated and beat up the influencer, calling Paul to say he was a bully.
Paul offered Strickland $1 million to spar him. While it never happened, Strickland lashed out, saying he would take his life if it was legal. The UFC fighter then approached Machine Gun Kelly at a Power Slap event. During a heated confrontation, Strickland may have lost his cool. Once the dust settled, he referred to the rapper as the devil. He admitted that he does struggle with his emotions.
“Again, I don’t know why I’m telling you guys this. I’ve just been kind of going through some sh*t. I’m fine. I’ll be fine. I’m going to go train right now and try to hurt all of my friends, and all of the demons will go away. I just want you guys to know that I have everything I could ever want in the world, and I still struggle. So, whatever you guys are going through man, hope y’all feel better. Go to the gym, train. F*cking wish you all the best,” Strickland added
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