Chael Sonnen wasn’t shopping for what Sean Strickland was promoting early in his profession.
At present, Strickland is taken into account probably the greatest strikers within the sport, having dominated former two-time titleholder Israel Adesanya to seize the UFC’s middleweight title in September 2023. Sadly, Strickland’s reign got here to a fast finish courtesy of a questionable split-decision loss in opposition to present 185-pound champion Dricus Du Plessis.
On February 8, ‘Tarzan’ will get the prospect to make it proper and reclaim the crown when he runs it again with ‘DDP’ at UFC 312 in Sydney, Australia.
Forward of their extremely anticipated rematch, Sonnen recalled the primary time he met a 21-year-old Strickland who was boasting about being an undefeated fighter with a whopping 17 victories already to his credit score.
Sonnen is ‘Very proud’ of what Sean Strickland has completed
After all, ‘The American Gangster’ thought Strickland was simply one other child blowing smoke — till he noticed him compete.
“Met Sean Strickland on the Reign Coaching Middle,” Sonnen mentioned on his YouTube channel. “21 years outdated, little liar! He comes within the room, and we begin figuring out. He tells me he’s 17-0 and the King of the Cage champion. You possibly can’t get 17 fights at 21 years outdated. You possibly can’t do it. No fee would offer you that many fights.
“And I keep in mind leaving and telling Miss Fairly, ‘That man says he’s 17-0.’ And she or he’s like, ‘Do you assume he’s mendacity?’ I’m going, ‘He could be 17-0. If he mentioned 17 fights, he would have received all of them. That man’s actually good.’ Went on to be a world champion. Very pleased with him.”
At present, Strickland is 29-6 in his blended martial arts profession with 16 of his victories coming below the UFC banner.
Following his loss in opposition to Du Plessis in January, ‘Tarzan’ bounced again with a stable exhibiting in opposition to one-time title challenger Paulo Costa at UFC 302 in June — a win that in the end earned him his rematch in opposition to ‘DDP’ in 2025.
