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 controversial and outspoken American headlines UFC 293 in Sydney, Australia, challenging Israel Adesanya for the middleweight throne.
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 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.
READ MORE IN MMA
Fury says UFC sent him huge ‘offer’ to face Jon Jones before Ngannou fight
Best UFC betting sites UK: Top UFC offers for September 2023
“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.
Most read in MMA
PILLOW TALK
UFC launch legal action against Pillow Fight Championship over logo similarity
KNOCKOUT
UFC octagon girl Brittney Palmer goes braless in risque dressing gown snap
STRICK TEASE
UFC star Sean Strickland spars with a FAN on stage days before title fight
EURO MILLION
OKTAGON MMA to offer money ‘never seen before’ in Europe with €1m tournament
"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.
"You’re in seventh grade spouting off about Nazis, you don’t even know what the f**k that means.
"But you hear it from someone you look up to and that identity consumed me.
"Drawing swastikas walking to school, like I didn’t know what the f**k that was."
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.
I remember the first time when I walked into the gym, I was a kid, and all my anger went away
"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.”
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."
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.
Read More on The Sun
X Factor ‘wild child’ Frankie Cocozza unrecognisable as he goes topless by beach
GP reveals how often the average person farts
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.
Source: Read Full Article
