"He f***ing deserves it" - Sean Strickland on teammate Chris Curtis' recent success inside the octagon
Sean Strickland doesn't make a lot of friends in the gym given the way he spars, but he's glad to call teammate Chris Curtis a friend and even happier to see Curtis finally get his shot with the UFC.
Curtis had a windy road to the major leagues, going 26-8 in a variety of smaller shows before finally getting a contract from the UFC. Now he's 3-0 with the promotion and looking like a force at middleweight. That's a relief to Strickland, who watched his friend struggle for years.
Sportskeeda MMA's James Lynch was at the UFC 276 media day press conference and asked Sean Strickland about Curtis' success. Strickland said:
"Aw man, I just want the guy to make money. This is the thing that sucks about MMA, you can spend your whole life in MMA and make jack s*** with money and the next you know, welcome to f***ing Wal-Mart. So it's nice to see actually Curt having a future and he won't be contemplating suicide at some point because there was a point in his life where he was f***ing up all these guys that were getting signed, he'd beat guys, they'd get signed. I had to bring him down like 'Curt, don't do it man, don't f***ing do it!'"
WOW, another huge upset ko for chris curtis #UFCVegas44 https://t.co/ztufGYjn5z
"So I'm happy for him that he's getting his shot. He is one of the hardest working guys in the gym. He spars every day. After he fought, he was back in there Monday helping me out, helping guys out. Curt's the man, he trains his ass off and he f***ing deserves it, and he should have gotten it a lot sooner."
Watch Sean Strickland's full press conference video below:
Sean Strickland is well known for his unusual sense of humor, so any talk of suicide should not be taken seriously. Chris Curtis did struggle to keep moving forward in MMA through those lean years on smaller cards. He retired from the sport after winning a fight on Dana White's Contender Series in 2018 but not getting a UFC contract.
He returned several months later, but then retired again after dropping two fights in a row to Magomed Magomedkerimov in the PFL playoffs, eliminating him from their $1 million tournament. Once again he'd change his mind and return, only to be sidelined for a year due to COVID-19 restrictions.
"10 YEARS BABY!!!"
Chris Curtis' emotions poured out after getting a big KO in his long-awaited UFC debut.
#UFC268 | Full results: bit.ly/3qdOrZL https://t.co/CcPRB0FGEZ
Sean Strickland is worried about getting "Gina Carano'd" doing UFC 276 press
Sean Strickland is one of the most brazen and outspoken fighters on the UFC roster. Unlike Colby Covington, he doesn't even put that much effort into being offensive. He just is, naturally. So when he heard he was going to be a part of the UFC 276 media day press conference, he suggested he may get himself canceled like Gina Carano.
In a recent video on Instagram, Strickland said:
"The UFC wants me as part of the press conference. And I’m a little f***ing scared, and I’ll tell you why I’m scared. Because I’m not talking to you social degenerates on Instagram, I’m talking to the overlords. ESPN, f***ing Walt Disney man. You know, and if I f*** up and if I say something wrong, I’m gonna get f***ing Gina Carano’d. And I don’t want that. So I really need to sit there, and just shut the f*** up."
As if that wasn't stressful enough, Sean Strickland is also fighting Alex Pereira on the main card in a fight that could earn him a middleweight title shot.