Sean Strickland ready to "die" ahead of "bloodbath" UFC 302 clash against Paulo Costa
The UFC 302 co-headliner will pit Sean Strickland against Paulo Costa in a five-round middleweight bout. Besides, the star-studded fight card will be headlined by a UFC lightweight title match between reigning champion Islam Makhachev and Dustin Poirier. Speaking of the co-headliners, Strickland seemingly visualizes emerging victorious in a violent clash at UFC 302.
America's Strickland last competed in Jan. 2024, losing his UFC middleweight title via split decision against Dricus Du Plessis in a closely contested matchup. On the other hand, Brazil's Costa is coming off a unanimous decision defeat in a back-and-forth fight against Robert Whittaker in Feb. 2024.
The No. 1-ranked UFC middleweight Strickland will do battle against the No. 7-ranked Costa at UFC 302 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, USA, on June 1, 2024. On the 'UFC 302 Countdown' episode, 'Tarzan' addressed his highly-anticipated high-stakes middleweight clash against Costa, the winner of which could go on to compete for the UFC middleweight title.
The former middleweight kingpin implied that he's willing to sacrifice his life inside the octagon. Strickland appeared to predict a bloodbath against 'The Eraser' and stated:
"UFC 302, man, it's going to be a bloodbath. I think that me and Costa, we're going to go in the deep water. It's going to be a 25-minute war. I think we're both going to be looking at each other in that third, fourth round, thinking, 'F**k. We got one more round.' But mentally, as always, I'm ready to die for what I want. And I think I'm going to pick him apart."
Check out Strickland's comments below (45:45):
When UFC 302 star Sean Strickland sent an eerie "fight to death" warning to Khamzat Chimaev
Over the past few years, Sean Strickland has gained considerable notoriety for his polarizing socio-political assertions, which include multiple instances of his indicating that he's fantasized about killing. Moreover, he's addressed his mental health struggles and made allusions to thoughts about possibly taking his own life.
Intriguingly, Sean Strickland has previously trained alongside another popular UFC star, Khamzat Chimaev, who's known to make similar statements regarding fighting and combat sports. The Chechnya-born undefeated 'Borz' has often emphasized that he's unafraid of killing his foes.
Strickland and Chimaev are no strangers to each other, having trained together multiple times at the Xtreme Couture gym in Las Vegas. Late last year, 'Tarzan' appeared on UFC Fight Pass' 'Extra Rounds' podcast and recounted a gym story about himself and Chimaev. He claimed that 'Borz' misunderstood a complimentary message he'd sent him and responded with trash talk.
Furthermore, Strickland alleged that he then challenged Chimaev to fight him at the gym but the latter didn't show up. They subsequently sorted the issue by talking it out. Regardless, in his podcast appearance, 'Tarzan' sent a cold warning to Chimaev and said:
"Me and him are f**king different. Chimaev can be right here, I will fight that man to death right here."
Check out Strickland's comments below: