Sean Strickland opens up on the twists and turns of UFC career
During his UFC 302 media day press conference, Strickland was asked to explain what changed during his UFC run.
“It sounds funny, but I care way less 1717137396,” Strickland admitted. “Prior to my motorcycle accident, the only thing in my life that I’ve ever accomplished and that amounted to anything, was having [the UFC logo] in my Instagram bio. Once that was potentially taken from me, I had to really look at my life prior to that, and my build myself up. Now, I’ll give you an example…a guy came into the gym the other day, he lost his job, was working at Apple for nine years. The hardest thing he had to do was build himself back up…
“As a man, we put our worth into titles…that’s how it kind of was with me. All I was, was the f**** logo. Two weeks out from a fight, I’d think about the fight and be up until 3 a.m. thinking ‘What can I do?’. It wasn’t the fight, I didn’t want to lose any validation I had in being a man. The only accomplishment I had, I didn’t want to lose. And after the motorcycle accident, I detached from Sean the UFC fighter…and I’m happy, and my worth isn’t linked to [the sport]. I just enjoy what I do, now.”
A win over Costa could be enough to earn Strickland another shot at the UFC middleweight belt. Du Plessis is expected to face Israel Adesanya later this year, leaving Strickland as the potential next man up.
Strickland’s UFC career ascent is unprecedented, and he plans on making more history this weekend. He admitted that he had to make a slew of changes to his mindset after one of the hardest chapters of his life.
