Sean Strickland knows it would be declared as excuses, but he just wants to elucidate what happened prior to UFC 312.
The primary signs Strickland (29-7 MMA, 16-7 UFC) may not be in peak condition for this past Saturday’s middleweight title rematch with Dricus Du Plessis (23-2 MMA, 9-0 UFC), which he lost by unanimous decision, got here up during fight week when images of staph infection on his arm were discovered.
Strickland downplayed it as a problem when asked on the pre-fight press conference, but it surely has since been revealed that he had a case of the virus several weeks prior to UFC 312. That was just considered one of the issues he needed to navigate throughout training camp, because Strickland said he also experienced an arm injury that he described as a break.
“This shouldn’t be an excuse, but that entire camp was a struggle of, ‘I’m good,’ (but) knowing you’re not good,” Strickland said in a video on his social media. “I used to be in Columbia like eight weeks out, seven weeks out getting stem cells on a broken bone. Bone healed high quality, not an excuse, it just form of weighs at the back of your head. I used to be training with (Reinier) de Ridder, the submission guy, and he hit me with a whizzer, and it was already broken, but dude, I assumed my arm f*cking snapped.
“I used to be like, ‘I’ve got to go to f*cking Columbia, that is f*cked.’ All camp that is just at the back of your head and also you’re just telling yourself, ‘I’m f*cking good.’ … But all camp, whether it’s the staph infection, the broken arm, the having to get a VISA that didn’t get approved until every week (before), not knowing if I’ll get cornermen on the market. This complete camp was a struggle of like, ‘I’m not good.’ But look within the mirror and say, ‘Sack up.’”
Strickland, 33, reiterated multiple times throughout his four-minute video that he was not attempting to make excuses. Nonetheless, he felt compelled to elucidate among the context around his training camp after his longtime Xtreme Couture coach Eric Nicksick offered a public criticism of his performance.
Nevertheless, Strickland said he intends to push forward in his UFC profession (seemingly without Nicksick in his corner), and do what’s crucial to enhance his game after failing to regain the belt.
“Nothing away from Dricus – he got here in there and f*cking fought his ass off, broke my nose,” Strickland said. “Hell yeah. Hat’s off. You fought like a f*cking man. But I don’t fight to place belts on the wall, I don’t f*cking fight because Eric desires to go do a flowery podcast. That’s not why I fight. Before fighting I had the bottom self-esteem, couldn’t even take a look at myself within the mirror. I don’t know what dignity was once I first began fighting and though fighting, I’ve learned a lot. I’ve met so many amazing people.
“… I’ve got lots of fights left on my contract. I really like fighting. I’m going back to the gym and dealing my ass off and I’m ranging from f*cking square one. And that’s just how life is. You’ll all the time get a step back where you’re like, ‘All right, I’ve got to begin all yet again.’ And also you make a selection to either sack up and also you f*cking do it, otherwise you quit. And I’m going to sack up and do it.”
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