Sean Strickland went through a disturbing childhood because of how his father treated his mother. On multiple occasions, Strickland has had to come to his mother’s rescue as his father used to physically and mentally torture her. Although the American MMA fighter has never revealed their name, it is known that his father has died due to cancer. However, he had already done great damage to Strickland’s mental health.
The UFC Middleweight fighter opened up about his traumatic childhood in an interview in 2021 with Ariel Helwani of the MMA Hour. Strickland did not hold back and gave every gory detail about his encounters with his father.
These Sean Strickland stories about his childhood are insane. I can’t believe Sean grew up like that. Very honest and raw interview with @arielhelwani #themmahour #MMA #MMATwiter
— Jason Hagholm (@JHagholm1) October 27, 2021
Strickland began by saying that he went through a “weird neo-Nazi, white supremacist phase.” This was because his grandfather had similar ideologies. He was even expelled from his school because of hate crimes.
His dismal psychological condition is due to his father. He said, “It was a lot of psychological sh*t, like my dad was f*cking nuts.” Strickland talked about how his father was a drunkard and it affected his whole family.
Sean Strickland used a guitar to defend his mother from his abusive father
He further went on to explain how he had to use a guitar to save his mom from his abusive father. “There was a story where I remember I used to sleep in my mom’s room a lot because I thought he’d kill my mom. I thought I’d wake up with my mom dead…”
Strickland said that on one of those nights, his father attacked his mother. The only thing he could find was a guitar, so he used to it hit his father in the head.
Sean Strickland w/ @arielhelwani
-Immense childhood trauma
-Bad influences, became a Neo-Nazi
-Training pulled him away from Neo-Nazism
-Has homicidal thoughts and sociopathic traits, delusions of grandeur
-Doesn’t want therapy because he likes thoughts of killing #TheMMAHour— EK (@EdwardsKim) October 27, 2021
A young Strickland, who was in seventh grade, looked to his grandfather for guidance. However, that went downhill as well. He explained, “My grandfather was this big piece of sh*t… He just kind of filled your head with crazy sh*t. Because you’re in seventh grade, spouting off Nazi [ideas] — you don’t f*cking know that. You don’t even know what the f*ck that means.”
In ninth grade, Strickland was expelled from his school because of a hate crime he committed. This was the origin of Sean Strickland – an MMA fighter. His mother took him to an MMA gym to sort his problems out.
Sean Strickland broke his father’s nose by headbutting him
When Strickland had turned 18 his dad had become worse as he had turned to narcotics. One day, Strickland decided he had had enough of his father’s abuse.
He said, “When I was 18 one day I f*cking wake up to them fighting, my mom and my dad fighting. I’m like 18 years old, dropped out of high school, wanted to be an MMA fighter. He was holding my mom in the room saying crazy sh*t like, ‘You’re probably banging your boss, your mom’s banging her boss, your mom’s doing this or doing that.’”
He claimed that his father got into his face at one point after this and he snapped. Strickland headbutted his father and broke his nose.
The police arrived soon after and no charges were pressed. Strickland moved out of the house with his mother. In a post on X in 2023, Strickland wrote, “My dad dying of cancer “Sean I know I wasn’t the best to you, but at least I didn’t molest you” 100 percent true conversation.” This further proved the disturbing relationship Strickland shared with his father.
The former UFC Middleweight Champion has even broken down while talking about his childhood during the lead-up to his UFC 297 fight against Dricus du Plessis. The South African fighter mentioning Strickland’s difficult past during the fight build-up was being frowned upon. However, the fighters settled the score inside the Octagon with DDP attaining a split decision victory.
