Sean Strickland gives his take on losing race to professional motocross rider Brian Deegan
Sean Strickland recently had the pleasure of racing driver and freestyle motocross rider Brian Deegan. Unfortunately, despite 'Tarzan's best efforts, he predictably came up short against his far more experienced competitor. The former UFC middleweight champion took to Instagram to commemorate the friendly race.
He shared various clips and pictures on his Instagram story before downplaying the loss in typical Strickland fashion, pointing out that Deegan was the professional behind the wheel, not him.
"I lost to professional racer.. excuse me"
It marks one of the ex-champion's many hobbies outside of the octagon, which includes firearms. While he is enjoying his time off, he is currently sitting out in wait of a title shot against Dricus du Plessis, who captured the middleweight title from him in a closely-contested, controversial bout.
Strickland has maintained that he did not lose and was instead the victim of biased judging. Following a ufc-302-sean-strickland-vs-paulo-costa-live-round-by-round-updates" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-is-sponsored="false">hard-fought split-decision win over former title challenger Paulo Costa, 'Tarzan' began campaigning for a rematch with his South African rival, who doesn't seem too keen on giving Strickland a second crack.
Instead, du Plessis is currently embroiled in something of a feud with reigning UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira and undefeated middleweight grappler Khamzat Chimaev. Meanwhile, 'Tarzan' is committed to waiting on the sidelines until he is granted the title shot he feels he more than deserves.
Whether this comes to pass remains to be seen, as du Plessis just defended his title at UFC 305, submitting Israel Adesanya in round four. Moreover, the UFC has said nothing of any plans regarding the middleweight title picture moving forward.
Sean Strickland is an avid motorcyclist
Besides guns, Sean Strickland is also an avid motorcycle rider. Unfortunately, this hobby almost cost him his career. In December 2018, 'Tarzan' was rendered unconscious by a motorcycle accident that left him with countless injuries, requiring surgery, with his knee being especially damaged.
The cumulative injuries left him out of commission for quite some time as he only returned on Oct. 31, 2020. Fortunately, he has only looked better since, going on to become a top fixture in the middleweight division, even briefly holding the belt.