RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 1 sourcesSYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - FEBRUARY 06: Sean Strickland is seen on stage during the UFC 312 press conference at Qudos Bank Arena on February 06, 2025 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)
If you’ve ever wanted to listen to Sean Strickland speak for four hours, today is your lucky day. The UFC middleweight champion just sat down with Shawn Ryan and the two talked for over 240 minutes on a variety of different topics. That’s over an hour longer than Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey!
That film is based on Homer’s epic poem and cover’s Odysseus’ 20 year journey from Ithica to Troy and back. But we have to say, ‘complicated man’ Sean Strickland’s 35 year journey from abused child to two-time UFC champion may give The Odyssey a run for its money. There’s too much to go into in one simple article, but the interview covers Sean’s many mental issues, troubled youth, how he fell in with a neo-nazi gang in prison, and other really dark stuff.
“If I was drinking, I’d be dead or I’d be in prison,” Strickland said. “That’s what drinking does, it lowers your inhibition. And so now you’re just like, ‘Oh, I’m down to do anything.’ I mean, I can’t even own a revolver. I have one little .22 revolver that I don’t f–k with because every time I pick it up, I can’t stop thinking about killing myself.”
“When I was younger, dude, I had this girl save my life,” he added. “I had this .38, I’m just f–king spinning it. And I’m just talking to this girl named Jackie. [You] saved my life, Jackie, thank you. I’m spinning it. I put a round in it. I’m just talking to her and I’m hyperfixating on playing Russian roulette. Still to this day it gives me f–king chills.”
“I was like, ‘We should do it.’ And she’s like, ‘Sean, no. Don’t do it.’ And I was like, ‘No, what are the odds? Like, one in six? One in six. That’s good odds. I’d take those odds.’ Right? So I f–king put the gun to my head, and I’m sitting there … I’m working myself up to it. ‘F–king do it. I’m f–king goona do it. You f–king pussy.’ I’m having a conversation with her, I have every bit of adrenaline and dopamine just being f–king saturated in my brain right now and I f–king love it.”
“You say you’re addicted to adrenaline, you just have these chemicals saturating your f–king brain,” Strickland said. “And I f–king I cock it back, dude, and she starts fucking crying and grabs the gun out of my hand. Says ‘Sean, if you ever f–king do that, I’ll leave you.’ And I’m like, ‘Let’s just see what would have happened.’ Open it up. I was about to shoot myself in the f–king head.”
That’s not even the most shocking or insane story that Sean Strickland shares during this extensive podcast with Shawn Ryan. It certainly gives you a lot of context for why “Tarzan” is the way he is now, and a better look at the person he is behind the social media machismo. He’s undoubtedly one of the most unlikely UFC champs ever, even more so after you find out what he went through to get to this point.
Honestly, it’s surprising that he’s even still alive.
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