Sean Strickland biography: 13 things about UFC fighter born in New Bern, North Carolina

Sean Thomas Strickland is a professional mixed martial artist born in New Bern, Craven County, North Carolina, United States. He is currently signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, which is based in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

Sean Strickland’s profile

Raised in Corona, California, USA, Strickland witnessed how his mother was physically and mentally abused by his father, who has since passed away due to cancer. As a child, Strickland idolized his grandfather, who put him on the path to becoming a neo-Nazi.

After seeing “American History X,” which was released on October 30, 1998, Strickland became even more fascinated with neo-Nazi ideology. He gave up the ideology after befriending people of different races who helped him during his difficult times.

In the ninth grade, Strickland was kicked out of school for committing a hate crime so his mother decided to take him to an MMA gym where he could work out his problems. Here are 13 more things about him:

1. His fight name is Tarzan.
2. He is a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
3. He and his brother Lawrence Strickland were fans of the earliest events of the UFC.
4. He is 6’1″ tall.
5. He holds a professional MMA record of 29 wins and 6 losses.
6. In 2005, he started his MMA training.
7. He started as a middleweight in 2008, moved to welterweight in 2015 and went back to middleweight in 2020.
8. On March 22, 2008, he made his professional MMA debut at “KOTC: Protégé” in Laughlin, Nevada, USA where he submitted Tyler Pottett via rear-naked choke.
9. Before joining the UFC, he competed in the King of the Cage and reigned as the KOTC Middleweight Champion from 2011 to 2013.
10. On March 15, 2014, he made his UFC debut.
11. On December 11, 2018, he was riding a motorcycle in Los Angeles and was hit by a car, which rendered him unconscious. He suffered numerous injuries and had a knee operation.
12. In 2019, he went on hiatus.
13. On February 27, 2024, he turned 33.

Sean Strickland’s UFC fights

Strickland has 22 UFC fights. Here are the results:

2014

• On March 15, 2014, he submitted Bubba McDaniel via rear-naked choke at “UFC 171” in Dallas, Texas, USA.
• On May 31, 2014, he defeated Luke Barnatt via split decision at “UFC Fight Night 41” in Berlin, Germany.

2015

• On February 22, 2015, he lost to Santiago Ponzinibbio via unanimous decision at “UFC Fight Night 61” in Porto Alegre, Brazil.
• On July 15, 2015, he defeated Igor Araujo via unanimous decision at “UFC Fight Night 71” in San Diego, California.

2016

• On February 21, 2016, he knocked out Alex Garcia at “UFC Fight Night 83” in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
• On June 4, 2016, he defeated Tom Breese via split decision at “UFC 199” Inglewood, California.

2017

• On April 8, 2017, he lost to Kamaru Usman via unanimous decision at “UFC 210” in Buffalo, New York, USA.
• On November 11, 2017, he defeated Court McGee via unanimous decision at “UFC Fight Night 120” in Norfolk, Virginia, USA.

2018

• On May 12, 2018, he was knocked out by Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos at “UFC 224” in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
• On October 27, 2018, he defeated Nordine Taleb via technical knockout via punches at “UFC Fight Night 138” in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada. 

2019

2020

• On October 31, 2020, he defeated Jack Marshman via unanimous decision at “UFC Vegas 12” in Enterprise.
• On November 14, 2020, he defeated Brendan Allen via technical knockout at “UFC Vegas 14” in Enterprise.

2021

• On May 1, 2021, he defeated Krzysztof Jotko via unanimous decision at “UFC Vegas 25” in Enterprise.
• On July 31, 2021, he defeated Uriah Hall via unanimous decision at “UFC Vegas 33” in Enterprise.

2022

• On February 5, 2022, he defeated Jack Hermansson via split decision at “UFC Vegas 47” in Enterprise, Nevada.
• On July 2, 2022, he was knocked out by Alex Pereira via punches at “UFC 276” in Enterprise.
• On December 17, 2022, he lost to Jared Cannonier via split decision at “UFC Vegas 66” in Enterprise.

2023

• On January 14, 2023, he defeated Nassourdine Imavov via unanimous decision at “UFC Vegas 67” in Enterprise.
• On June 1, 2023, he defeated Abusupiyan Magomedov via technical knockout at “UFC Vegas 76” in Enterprise.
• On September 10, 2023, he became the new UFC Middleweight Champion by dethroning defending champion Israel Adesanya via unanimous decision at “UFC 293” in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

2024

• On January 20, 2024, he lost the UFC Middleweight Championship title to Dricus du Plessis via split decision at “UFC 297” in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
• On June 1, 2024, he defeated Paulo Costa via split decision at “UFC 302” in Newark, New Jersey, USA.