Sean Strickland isn’t here for your internet trolling.
Strickland, the UFC’s No. 11-ranked middleweight, made headlines last week when he posted training footage of a gym session gone wrong with BJJ champion Orlando Sanchez. In the clip, a furious Strickland hits Sanchez with a spinning back fist followed by a front kick to the midsection after accusing Sanchez of attempting to injure his arm with a “d*ck move” ahead of his main-event bout against Uriah Hall on July 31.
Strickland and Sanchez ultimately both laughed off the incident, but that apparently hasn’t stopped online critics from railing against Strickland for his aggressive response — and to that, the 30-year-old middleweight has just one thing to say.
“Listen, you guys running your f*cking mouth, if you were to see me in person and come and say that sh*t to me, I would smack you in the f*cking face,” Strickland warned his critics in an expletive-laden Instagram post. “And let’s say you’re not cool like Orlando, let’s say you’re a dick, and you get mad and you put your hands up, not like Orlando, I would continue to hit you in the f*cking face. I’m a cage fighter. This is what I f*cking do.
“I like to hurt people. Don’t be shocked at what I did. Be shocked at yourself. Matter of fact, if you want to run your f*cking mouth, not on the internet, you should come up to me, do it in person and bring your f*cking kids. So after I smack you in the mouth, they can watch me smack their f*cking coward father, and maybe they can learn a lesson and not be a b*tch like you.”
Strickland (23-3) is currently enjoying the best stretch of his UFC career. After fighting to a 6-3 record over his first nine octagon appearances, the colorful North Carolina native has rocketed into contention off the back of four consecutive wins over the likes of Nordine Taleb, Jack Marshman, Brendan Allen, and Krzysztof Jotko. And ahead of the first main-event opportunity of his UFC run, Strickland’s message to the trolls is a simple one.
“Stay off the internet,” Strickland said. “Stop running your f*cking mouth.”