A banned UFC fighter visited a gym to simultaneously fight three influencers, and the result was certainly entertaining.
With the eyes of the combat sports world on what happens when influencer-turned-boxer Jake Paul fights former two-time unified world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua, when better to highlight another utterly bizarre match-up that happened this week?
One man who is not scared to go against the grain is former UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland.
The American fighter is currently banned from competing for six months after he attacked another fighter while working as a cornerman for Miles Hunsinger at a Tuff-N-Uff event earlier this year. The ban was imposed by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
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Strickland also recently claimed that he was told not to attend UFC 323 by bosses at the company, despite his Xtreme Couture teammate Mansur Abdul-Malik competing on the card.
Earlier in December, the 34-year-old revealed that he turned down the chance to appear at UFC 325 in Sydney, Australia, with his matchup against Anthony Hernandez scheduled to take place in Houston, Texas, on February 25.
And despite being banned, Strickland has still been in training and even took part in a rather entertaining sparring session involving three influencers recently.
During the clash, streamed by Adin Ross, the UFC star took all three fighters on at once and appeared to start off easy before landing several solid blows, knocking one influencer down just seconds into the sparring session.
“Welcome to sparring,” Strickland shouted before the bruised influencer replied: “This is sparring?”
The contest continued with the trio hardly landing a blow on the professional fighter, who floored two of the influencers within just seconds of each other before the spar ended.
The sparring session got fans talking on social media.
One said: “He fought 1 guy, the other one was scared, the 3rd one got hit once and folded.”
Another added: “Sparring with Sean isn't a good idea unless you can fight; he doesn't go easy.”
While a third claimed: “The way the average grown man moves is absolutely pathetic.
“How can you see this footage and not bash your face in the mirror if you were one of the ‘influencers’ participating? Pathetic.”
But this was not the first time Strickland had been involved in such a sparring session, as he previously sparred with a former Navy SEAL after he challenged him to a fight.
In July 2024, the UFC star fought Mitch Aguiar after the former NAVY Seal took an open sparring invitation.
Strickland pummelled Aguiar with leg kicks and drew blood from his nose while claiming he wanted to make him quit. Strickland got the better of Aguiar by some distance before the pair embraced after 25 minutes of action.
Topics: UFC, Sean Strickland, MMA
Luke Davies