The Article Briefly Presented in Matthew McConaughey's Voice
SEAN STRICKLAND finally gets his shot at UFC gold this weekend – but his life could have been oh so different had he not got off the bigoted path he was put on as a troubled kid.
The Fight for Gold
The controversial and outspoken American headlines UFC 293 in Sydney, Australia, challenging Israel Adesanya for the middleweight throne.
Sean Strickland is on the cusp of becoming UFC middleweight champion
The controversial American challenge Israel Adesanya for the 185lbs title at UFC 293
Strickland grew up in a broken home and was heavily influenced by his racist granddad
The 32-year-old got sucked into Neo-Nazi ideology when he was a teenager
Fighting Against Hate
Strickland has become a beloved figure in some corners of the MMA fanbase thanks to his lack of filter when it comes to a host of social issues, which he regularly rants about on social media.
As with every fighter who has graced the octagon, Strickland’s formative years had a profound effect on him and paved the path for him to trying his hand at mixed martial arts.
The Influence of His Grandfather
The influence of his late grandfather when was perhaps the biggest as it led the once-impressionable teenager to adopt a since-disavowed Neo-Nazi ideology.
"I was really f*****g angry,” the 32-year-old admitted when recalling his teenage years.
"I was so angry I actually went through this weird neo-Nazi, white supremacist phase when I was younger.
"And I got kicked out of school for hate crimes, like all this crazy s**t.
"I was angry and I had a lot of f***ed-up influences in my life that it felt so good to f***ing hate something.
"I would walk down the street with like a knife or a rock hoping to kill somebody.
"And when I started training I’m like man, you’re just f*****g angry."
Strickland, like many who are brainwashed by extremist ideologies, was sucked into the Neo-Nazi world in large part because of his then-adoration of his late grandfather.
He admitted: "My grandfather was like this big piece of s**t.
"When you’re a kid you don’t see that, you hero-worship. He kinda just filled your head with crazy s**t.
Strickland hates his late grandfather for instilling his racism in him
Sean Strickland has been open about his bigoted past and being kicked out of school for ‘hate crimes’
A Childhood of Struggle
Strickland grew up in somewhat of a broken home, with his alcoholic dad regularly using him as target practice for his beer bottles.
He said: “I always joke about my childhood and say I wouldn’t relive it for a billion dollars. You got the abusive alcoholic father.
"Christmas was good, for about an hour, before the drinking started.
"I always joke that if you can dodge a beer bottle, you can dodge a punch.
"My grandfather, really racist. So I gravitate towards this. It felt so good to hate somebody. But it ruined my life.”
He said of his grandfather’s racist influence: “I kinda resented him for it. When you’re racist, you don’t get ahead in life.
"You’re f****d, man. There’s no privilege from being racist, so I resented him for the majority of my life."
A New Outlook
Mixed martial arts, as it has to so many, gave the angry and once-bigoted Strickland a new outlook on life and helped him change his ways.
He said: “I remember the first time when I walked into the gym, I was a kid, and all my anger went away.
"It was the first time in my life - it makes me emotional just talking about it - that I ever felt happiness.
"And from there, I was hooked If it wasn’t for this, I would probably have ended up in a prison cell.”
Discovering MMA helped Strickland do away with his Neo-Nazi ways and see the world in a new light
An Uphill Battle
Strickland’s run of eight wins in his last ten outings have earned him an unlikely crack at ending Adesanya’s second reign as middleweight champion.
Stylistically, he’s at a huge disadvantage against the two-time middleweight champion – one of the most creative strikers to have ever set foot inside the octagon.
Even Strickland’s most avid fans struggle to see a path to victory for him in his maiden UFC title fight.
But it’s safe to say - no matter how controversial and out of touch he is with certain social elements - that getting out of the Neo-Nazi world will perhaps be the biggest victory he’ll ever taste.
Sean Strickland faces an uphill battle to end Israel Adesanya’s reign as MW champ
