Is it even a new thing if the unhinged Sean Strickland sneers at somebody? ‘Tarzan’ lambasted the new Official Fight Gloves in circulation this weekend. Strickland claimed the promotion “dropped the ball” in the draft. The “3Eight” (non-championship bouts) and “5Eight” (gold, for title fights) debuts soon. Strickland follows through with a “3Eight” variant on the feature co-main event at UFC 302.
UFC 302 sees the former middleweight champion facing Paulo Costa in a pivotal middleweight bout. Before fight night arrived, though, the pre-fight media scrum saw Strickland going off on the creator of the new gloves. The changes brought to the gloves have received praise and criticism in recent times. As such, Strickland accused the creator of the gloves of not understanding the new creation.
[On the gloves] They suck, Can we talk to the person who designed these gloves? ...Have you ever been in a fight in your fu*king life? It’s like...you get these fu*king dorks that have no idea...Like, this sounds like a good idea and they make it. Same thing with motorcycles...I’ve bought motorcycles and they put so much stupid sh*t on it...So no, they absolutely suck. You dropped the ball on that one.Sean Strickland via UFC 302 pre-fight Media Day conference (H/T: MMAFighting on SBN)
No topic was off-limits or safe when Sean Strickland took to the mic. Contrastingly, though, his unfiltered tirade on the gloves is not something isolated. Much like the former middleweight champion, others also have noted it to be coupled closer and ‘more stitched’ even. Speaking to Sports24, Islam Makhachev had expressed concerns about increased eye pokes.
Sean Strickland says UFC "dropped the ball" with their new gloves:
"Can we talk to the person who designed these gloves? Have you ever been in a f*cking fight in your life?" pic.twitter.com/nJoY4jD5aK
— MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting) May 29, 2024Similar to how Joaquin Buckley advocated it, even Strickland doubts their potency in preventing eye pokes. It is because these fouls are due to the behavior of the fighters, and no change in gloves will boost any effect. On the issue of gloves, a reporter asked if Strickland would go to the BKFC. The 33-year-old did not mince words and gave his honest thoughts.
Sean Strickland doesn’t see himself competing in “crook” BKFC any soon
Hell hath no fury like Sean Strickland on a microphone. The fighter attended his first pre-fight scrum since losing the middleweight title strap in January. Naturally, there’d be a lot of unfiltered regression and foul-mouthing. The lead-up banter to UFC 297 had hit close home to ‘Tarzan,’ even touching upon his childhood abuses.
In the lead-up to UFC 302, Strickland picked a new topic to trash-talk. It is safe to say Strickland is not a new fan of the new gloves. As such, the media scrum saw a reporter ask Strickland about potentially fighting in the BKFC. ‘Tarzan’ made strong accusations against the BKFC and indicated he would not fight for them.
How much would I fight fu*king bare-knuckle for? Nothing they would pay me...Bare-knuckle, you want to talk about fu*king crooks, they’re paying their guys sh*t. [BKFC]...is one of those organizations where you hear these numbers, it’s all bullsh*t...If you look at the lowest rung of the guys, they’re fu*king breaking their hands, breaking their orbitals...making couple thousand bucks...Sean Strickland via UFC 302 pre-fight Media Day conference
The California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) recently released purse details for the BKFC “KnuckleMania” 4 event. Fighters Crystal Pittman and Sydney Smith received a reported $500 payout at the bottom stack of the card. Strickland (28-6 MMA, 15-6 UFC) alluded to this, saying that to get mere change for orbital breaks is robbery. Despite notable run-ins with influencer fighters, he isn’t getting into crossover stints any soon as well.
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