Sean Strickland describes his training camp of snowboarding and wheelies
Sean Strickland is confident as he kicks off the UFC's 2023 schedule at UFC Vegas 67. He replaced Kelvin Gastelum and will now fight Nassourdine Imavov in the main event after the former TUF winner was forced to pull out of the fight due to a mouth injury.
While speaking to ESPN MMA's Heidi Androl, Strickland described his unique training camp for his short-notice bout with Imavov. He won't have to cut the extra 20lbs for this fight and explained what he has been working on ahead of his main event fight, saying:
"Training camp is great, I'm ready. I was doing a lot of snowboarding, practicing my wheelies, so, hard training camp. You guys are all gonna see it tomorrow night. You're gonna see it all come on to play. Everything I'm working on, everything I fix, you're all gonna see it tomorrow night." [0:32 - 0:45]
'Tarzan' vs. 'Russian Sniper' will be contested in 205 lbs due to the circumstances surrounding the fight coming together. When asked how much of a factor the change in the weight class will be, the No.7 ranked middleweight joked that being out of shape is a factor but mentioned that he isn't putting too much emphasis on fighting at light heavyweight, saying:
"It means I'm fat and out of shape and I can't make [1]85... I mean, I don't know, I don't think weight really matters that much. Like, I've knocked out heavyweights, you know, I've been knocked out by welterweights, like, it is what it is. " [0:52 - 1:17]
It will be interesting to see how Strickland performs, especially considering the fact that he fought last month at UFC Vegas 66, where he lost a split decision to Jared Cannonier.
Check out the full interview with Strickland below:
Sean Strickland trash-talks Nassourdine Imavov
This one's gonna be fun - Sean Strickland & @Imavov1 are ready to close out #UFCVegas67 🍿 https://t.co/9jVlKJbuKu
Sean Strickland knows how to get under his opponents' skin and has proven that on numerous occasions. This past July, he was involved in a back-and-forth with former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and the two weren't even fighting each other.
While speaking with ESPN MMA reporter Heidi Androl brought up that Imavov claimed that the only area 'Tarzan' is better than him is trash-talking and that he wouldn't allow him to play mind games. The No.7 ranked middleweight responded to those claims, saying:
"I'm the nicest guy, I just speak the truth. I said the French like to give up. Is that unfactual? Do we know anything about the French? What are the French known for camera guys? Quitting, so I don't know if that's gonna happen, maybe he changes it, but there's a lot of history behind the French giving up." [2:04 - 2:20]