"Joe Rogan needs this man on his podcast" - Sean Strickland reacts to his viral sparring session with Navy SEAL
After a grueling training session, Sean Strickland was impressed with a US Navy SEAL's endurance and mental fortitude. Strickland had opined that Navy SEALs could not survive a week of training with him. However, his opinion changed as the recent sparring session progressed.
Strickland recently took to X and shared glimpses of his five-round training session with a Navy SEAL and MMA fighter Mitch Aguiar. Many claim that the former UFC middleweight champion goes too hard in training. While he pressured Aguiar in the five-round sparring session, 'Tarzan' refrained from landing finishing punches and peppered relentlessly with stinging shots.
Strickland was hoping that Aguiar would eventually crumble under the pressure and quit. However, the Navy SEAL proved him wrong and made it to the final bell despite being visibly tired and hurt.
Strickland praised Aguiar in his X post and expressed his wish to see him on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast:
"Challenge accepted and I lost... Mitch was a solid guy.. Actually one of the real ones..... Joe Rogan needs this man on his podcast.... he's one of us. Throwing it on YouTube soon."
Check out the post and highlights from Sean Strickland's sparring session below:
Sean Strickland feels that MMA fighters are the "toughest"
Sean Strickland recently posted the full video of his sparring session with Navy SEAL Mitch Aguiar on his YouTube channel. The footage shows Strickland having his way with Aguiar while the Navy SEAL adhered to the strategy of surviving for five rounds.
Aguiar succeeded in his goal and gracefully admitted that he had nothing to offer Strickland in terms of offense:
"I had no delusions of winning this fight but it's clear, after 45 seconds, the mission was to survive. I had nothing for him." [14:05]
Meanwhile, Strickland praised Aguiar's toughness and durability. However, he feels that MMA fighters are the toughest combat sports athletes:
"Navy SEALs are training for a year or two years. If I were to take an 18 or 19-year-old kid, and I said, 'Hey, I'm going to train you for one year or two years and then you're going to fight in the UFC at the top level, even the lowest level, you would get utterly destroyed. Navy SEALs are tough dudes but MMA, we are the toughest MFs on this planet."
Check out Strickland's comments below (14:45):