After a two year hiatus, during which he had to heal up from injuries that occurred during a serious motorcycle accident, Sean Strickland returned to the octagon on Halloween, picking up a win over Jack Marshman in a standout effort. His next fight, luckily, won’t take another two years to arrive. In fact, it’s this weekend at UFC Vegas 14. All of two weeks after his return.
Speaking at the UFC Vegas 14 media day this weekend, the middleweight, who will take on Brendan Allen at a 195lb catchweight, explained how the fight came about.
“I was actually vacationing in Tennessee,” Strickland (21-3) said, adding perhaps jokingly that he wasn’t wearing a mask the whole time. After his flight home, also apparently sans mask, he got the call while still at the airport. At first, Strickland wasn’t sold, after stuffing himself with barbecue all week. Then, he admitted, “I thought about a big stack of money, and I was like ‘you know what, f*ck it, let’s do it. So the fight came about because of my love of money.”
Two weeks — less, really, when you subtract his vacation time, and travel time — isn’t much time to prepare for a fight. Luckily, Strickland’s main training partner, Ultimate Fighter alum Cory Hendricks, is a 6’3 light heavyweight whose style isn’t all that different from Allen’s.
“Everyone’s always like ‘man, why are you training with a guy who’s like 6’3, who all he really wants to do is grapple?'” Strickland’s response was that “I’m not training for this fight, I’m training for the next fight.” As it turned out, planning ahead paid off. “Ironically, I got an opponent who mimicked my main training partner.”
That said, Strickland doesn’t see much special in Allen’s game — with the exception of his toughness.
“I don’t even think Brendan’s that good, I just think he’s tough as sh*t,” opined Strickland, who at this stage of his career wants exciting fights, essentially big wars that will turn heads and gain fans. “You watch him fight, and the guy just eats shots and keeps coming forward. I think his biggest attribute is that he’s so durable and tough.”
“You don’t beat this man by sticking and moving. You only come out with a W by a war with this guy,” Strickland continued. “I think it has the potential to be one of the best fights on the card.”
Watch the full UFC Vegas 14 media day scrum with Sean Strickland above. The event takes place this Saturday, November 14 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, NV.
