Sean Strickland’s training session with a world-class grappler nearly turned into a full-on MMA fight.
As part of the preparation for his headlining bout with Uriah Hall at a UFC Fight Night on July 31, Strickland worked with Abu Dhabi Combat Club champion Orlando Sanchez, and a recent video showed that their training went off the rails.
After tying up in what was meant to be a grappling-only exchange, Strickland abruptly broke the grip and fired a backfist at Sanchez.
Watch video of the incident below, uploaded by YouTube user Just DeWitte (h/t Bloody Elbow):
Strickland also threw a front kick at Sanchez’s mid-section, then went on to accuse Sanchez of attempting to injure his arm with a “dirty” move.
“You motherf*cker!” Strickland said. “What the f*ck? Why, bro, why? Get away from me. Get away. What the f*ck, man? Why, dude?”
An incredulous Sanchez asked Strickland what provoked his reaction, to which Strickland replied, “You know what you did,” and calling Sanchez’s attack a “d*ck move.”
“Dude, how the f*ck is it a d*ck move?” Sanchez said. “It’s grappling, it’s f*cking grappling. How is it a f*cking dick move, it’s a submission. That’s a submission, bro. Why the f*ck did you punch me? I’m not hurting you, that was quick submission.”
Strickland reminded Sanchez that he has a high-profile UFC fight coming up (Strickland is currently on a four-fight win streak) and Sanchez attempted to explain why he didn’t feel he put Strickland in any danger. They briefly resumed grappling before Strickland broke off again, complaining of soreness in his arm. The argument continued from there.
“That was not malicious whatsoever,” Sanchez said. “If I wanted to f*cking break it I would have f*cking broken it in half. Watch the f*cking video. You need to learn how to not get underhooks like that, it’s a dangerous position to put your arm. Now you learned something.”
As Strickland exited the cage, tensions continued to flare.
“Stop running your f*cking mouth, dude,” Strickland said. “Or now I’m gonna throw some hands at you. We’re gonna turn this into an MMA match if you keep running your mouth.”
On Tuesday, Strickland clipped a section of the video for an Instagram post in which he and Sanchez appeared to laugh off the incident, if nothing else:
“Soo who was the bigger c*nt here? Me or [Sanchez]??!?! Lol And yes there will be a rematch Friday lol!!!” Strickland wrote in the accompanying caption.
Sanchez replied in the comments, “hahah TOO FUNNY” along with several emojis.