- Sean Strickland got a bit too emotional while recalling some sensitive issues about his childhood
- “Tarzan” admitted to being a victim of abuse growing up and suffering from trauma
Sean Strickland failed to hold back his tears while opening up about his childhood trauma during a recent interview on Theo Von’s This Past Weekend podcast.
The champ was reduced to tears
In an audio clip now circulating online, the reigning middleweight champ could be heard sobbing as he recounts some of his traumatic experiences growing up.
“My dad gets on top of my mom and I remember he said ‘I’m going to f**king kill you tonight.’ Maybe it’s just rough sex, we don’t know at this moment. I’m under the bed and he starts strangling her. I get out and the only thing I can see is a guitar, I just f**king crack him in the head and call the cops. I run down the street to call the cops, he’s arrested and my dumb ass mom bails him out of jail,” Strickland began.
“I remember… I would always miss school because my dad would get home drunk… and just be up until 3 in the morning, telling my mom that she’s a wh*re, he’s gonna kill her.
“I remember like I used to just sit there and hug my mom’s leg in the kitchen. We had this little nook and she would go in the nook and I would sit there and all night long, I’m by the feet of my mom and my dad will be like ‘I’m going to f**king kill you.’ He would talk about burning her face with acid… He’d always tell her ‘if you cheat on me,’ and she probably was cheating on him, ‘if you cheat on me, I’m going to cut you up and put you in a bottle of acid and bury you.’”
“I don’t go to school. I’m up until 3 in the morning and I couldn’t stay awake in school. I remember I was in second grade and I kept falling asleep at my desk and my teacher took my desk away from me and she made me stand up and so, me, I’m like, ‘F**k you’ and being this little kid, I just went and fell asleep on the ground. Mind you like, the school system’s like, ‘Oh, Sean, he’s just a bad kid.’ They don’t realize I’m up until 3 o’clock in the morning.”
“I remember like, laying in bed, like, I remember I stopped believing in God, man. it’s crazy sh*t… “I think that’s one of the hard things people don’t understand about trauma, you know?”
Listen to the clip below:
Sean Strickland gets emotional talking about his childhood.
Full Theo Von podcast here:https://t.co/X06n8x3V7w pic.twitter.com/CmxMsdHEWl
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) January 2, 2024
On social media, “Tarzan” further come clean about suffering from trauma caused by prolonged abuse during his childhood years.
PTSD can make a strong man weak or a weak man strong.. Years and years of abuse just changes you as a man.. The hate just doesn't go away. The sad truth is I'm one of millions but I only matter because there is a camera in my face… Most people just suffer in silence and drown… pic.twitter.com/H24KDko6GV
— Sean Strickland (@SStricklandMMA) December 19, 2023
Sean has a title to defend
Strickland may have only been prompted to face his childhood trauma but that would not exempt him from taking on Dricus du Plessis at UFC 297. It would be Strickland’s very first title defense as the middleweight king and the controversial and much-awaited bout is happening in a few weeks.
Prior to fight, “Tarzan” and Du Plessis already crossed paths and engaged in an ugly brawl while cage-side at UFC 296.
