Athletes
Sean Strickland Always Steps Up
UFC Middleweight Sean Strickland Prides Himself On His Fighting Spirit And Beating The Best Fighters In The World.
At this point, Sean Strickland wants to fight anyone.
“You could be from any part of the country, any slum, any mansion,” he said. “I will fight you. I don't care. You're just a human being. Nothing more.”
Okay, maybe he wants to fight everyone. Well, thankfully, the only one who has to throw hands with Strickland is Abus Magomedov, and according to the ultra-opinionated middleweight contender, the Germany-based Russian is the only fighter in the division who wanted to.
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“I've been hounding the UFC for a fight,” said Strickland, who is coming off a January victory over Nassourdine Imavov. “I've been hounding ranked guys. Every ranked guy they offered me to, they turned me down. So this was a name that they found. This was a guy that said, ‘Yeah,’ so here we are.”
Many were surprised that Magomedov, whose UFC career consists of a 19-second knockout of Dustin Stoltzfus got the main event slot this Saturday alongside Strickland, who is headlining his fifth UFC event. As we’ve already established, Strickland isn’t concerned with who stands across from him on fight night, but he does have his thoughts on his opponent’s body of work in the Octagon.
“As you're walking out to a fight, they play the highlight reels of what we've done, and Abus, all you've done was crush a can,” said Strickland. “That's your highlight reel. You beat a guy who shouldn't be in the UFC. Ride the hype wave, enjoy it. I'm going to end it. If you didn't finish that guy in under a minute, I would say you don't belong in the UFC.”
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Yes, Magomedov doesn’t have the track record of some headliners, but he did score a spectacular knockout in his debut, and he is 25-4-1 as a pro with 20 finishes, 15 of them in the first round. So the 32-year-old is a seasoned veteran who has paid his dues. And beating Strickland is his ticket to the Top Ten at 185 pounds. That’s a lot to gain for him. And a lot to lose for Strickland. Which means we might be in for a real fight this weekend, and it’s just what someone is expecting.
“Here's the thing about Abus; he does bring it,” said Strickland. “I think we're going to have a war for five rounds. I think it's going to be bloody, and I expect nothing less from him. I think he's going to bring the heat and I'm going to answer back with more and more intensity and more volume.”
Sean Strickland Fight Week Interview | UFC Fight Night: Strickland vs Magomedov
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Sean Strickland Fight Week Interview | UFC Fight Night: Strickland vs Magomedov
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That’s Strickland’s M.O. And that’s why he’s the A-side in this main event.
“The UFC knows I'm going to step up,” he said. “They know I'm going to fight. They know people like to watch me fight. They know I'm probably going to run my mouth a little bit too much, but man, I'm ready. I want to sell some fights, make some money, make it happen to the death.”
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In other words, Strickland is ready to ride this fighting thing until the wheels fall off because, to him, this isn’t just a job; it’s his life. And for all the bluster, trash talk and comments about anything and everything, this is the one thing he takes more seriously than anything.
“I've been fighting since I was 14 years old,” he said. “I think I had my first fight at 17. It's like when you've been fighting and training for a long time, I'm hardened, I'm conditioned. My brain's ready for it. It's my job, it's my career, I've been doing it since I was a kid. And I'm addicted to fighting. I'm addicted to training. I love this sport. I think it saved my life. I would say when I'm in the gym and I'm working my ass off and I feel like I'm going to die, I'm not at work. I'm doing what I love it. It is no struggle for me to walk in the gym and try to kill myself. I would rather do that than anything else in the world.”
Some may feel the same way Strickland does, but it doesn’t show up when it’s time to step in the Octagon, put the mouthpiece in and go. He’s always on.
“If you were here right now and you said, let's go walk outside and fight for free, you think I would say no?” he asks. “I would say let's go fight for free. You can't threaten me. You can't intimidate me. I'm f**king ready.”
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Yeah, it’s a Sean Strickland fight week. You know what’s coming on Saturday. Does Abus Magomedov?
“When I walk into the Octagon, you don't want to think about anything,” Strickland said. “You want to be a cold, calculated serial killer. You want to feel no pain, feel no fatigue. You don't want to think about your family. You don't want to think about the bills you got to pay. You don't want to think about the IRS. The only thing you want to think about is just how I'm going to put this man away. So if you're not thinking about that, you got to get your head fixed.”
UFC Fight Night: Strickland vs Magomedov took place live from the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada on July 1, 2023. See the Final Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!
