Former UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland responded to Dan Henderson’s recent claims over their gym split.
Sean Strickland is undoubtedly a UFC fan favorite, known for his brash persona and forward-pressing fight style. But he’s also ruffled loads of feathers during his profession, including considered one of the all-time great UFC combatants.
Strickland, who hasn’t fought since a rematch loss to Dricus du Plessis at UFC 312, is plotting a return to the cage by the tip of the yr. Israel Adesanya recently called him out on the UFC Hall of Fame red carpet to run back their UFC 293 showdown.
Strickland recently got right into a public feud with Xtreme Couture coach Eric Nicksick over his performance at UFC 312. Earlier in Strickland’s profession, he allegedly got into it with UFC legend Dan Henderson and the Team Quest gym over his conduct.
Sean Strickland accuses Dan Henderson of lying over Team Quest ouster
During a recent appearance on the Overdogs podcast, Henderson reflected on his time coaching Strickland at Team Quest in California.
“He got in little argument matches with a number of the guys that thought he was going too hard,” Henderson said. “Then he would log on and talk s— about him and he did it somewhat bit an excessive amount of. Just more socially, I didn’t care what happened within the room.
“While you send it out to everybody to listen to all that s—, it’s just disrespectful in your training partners, guys which can be in there training with you to assist you to out as well. He just did it too again and again, I warned him a bunch, after which finally just said, ‘Hey dude, you’ve got to go.’
“But he was a very good training partner and I enjoyed having him in there and liked having a man that’s in there that goes hard.” (h/t MMA Fighting)
After Henderson’s comments, it didn’t take long for Strickland to take notice, as he acknowledged in a recent Instagram comment.
“None of that is true,” Strickland said. “I used to be Dan’s most important training partner for his last fight. He retired, the fight team fell off and when it was time to renew my membership I left… but he’s correct I’d make fun of the fight team consistently.
“They’d do yoga and skip sparring lol [Keith Berry] I’m talking about you haha funny thing is we’re each at [Xtreme Couture] and spar commonly now.”
Despite Strickland’s recent feud with Nicksick, he stays a significant presence at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas. Henderson retired from MMA after a UFC title loss to Michael Bisping of their UFC 201 rematch.
Sean Strickland faces potential NSAC suspension after storming the cage at MMA event
Amid his back-and-forths with Henderson, Strickland’s UFC return timeline stays uncertain as he faces a possible Nevada State Athletic Commission suspension after storming the cage at a Tuff-N-Uff event. Strickland and teammate Chris Curtis confronted Tuff-N-Uff 145 fighter Luis Hernandez within the cage after taunting them following a submission win.
Strickland has since explained his side of the events, expressing little remorse in punching Hernandez before being escorted from the venue. As of this writing, NSAC has yet to rule on Strickland’s viral incident.
Strickland’s last UFC victory got here against former title challenger Paulo Costa at UFC 302.