Despite his more-than-tough exterior, UFC‘s Sean Strickland‘s recent emotional revelations show a different side of the middleweight world champion.

Known for his rugged persona, Strickland has recently opened up about his challenging upbringing and the complex relationship with his father.
In a candid moment on Theo Von’s podcast “This Past Weekend”, Strickland shared a heartbreaking classroom memory from his childhood:

In second grade, I kept falling asleep at my desk and my teacher took my desk away from me.
She made me stand up and so I’m, like: “F*ck you”, and being this little kid I just went and fell asleep on the ground.

Mind you, the school system’s like: “Oh, Sean, he’s just a bad kid.”
They don’t realize I’m up until three o’clock in the morning.

I remember laying in bed, I remember when I stopped believing in God, man.
Like, f*ck… It’s crazy sh*t, dude. Crazy sh*t, man.

Strickland added:

I think that’s one of the hard things people don’t understand about trauma, you know?

Sean Strickland got emotional talking about a moment from his childhood during his recent appearance on Theo Von’s (@TheoVon) podcast This Past Weekend. pic.twitter.com/yqcPQMXxLs

— MMA Mania (@mmamania) January 2, 2024

He later on reflected on the podcast in his own, Strickland-sort-of way:

So I did a podcast with Theo… Goddamn wall broke a little bit, allergies started to act up..
It wasn’t my finest moment… Damn demons lol.

So I did a podcast with Theo… goddamn wall broke a little bit, allergies started to act up.. It wasn’t my finest moment… damn demons lol

Idk what to do now… I think I need to go buy an iPhone and a tesla, adopt a cat, all vegan diet… maybe start fucking dudes IDK.. LMAO

— Sean Strickland (@SStricklandMMA) December 18, 2023