Sean Strickland Returns to Sparring One Day After 60 MPH Rollover Crash
The UFC middleweight champion was back in the gym hours after a side-by-side vehicle rolled six times.
Sean Strickland is built different, and not always in a good way. The UFC middleweight champion returned to sparring just one day after a side-by-side vehicle he was riding in rolled six times at approximately 60 miles per hour in the Nevada desert.
Strickland posted video of the crash on his Instagram account. A friend, identified as Chris Cornell, was driving the UTV when it flipped. Cornell broke his collarbone in the accident. Strickland was not wearing a helmet.
"I let my buddy drive, he rolled, we were going like 60 mph, we rolled," Strickland said in a video posted after the incident per The Body Lock MMA. "I did not have a helmet on. I am an idiot."
Strickland sustained a head gash, shoulder soreness, and concussion symptoms. Despite the injuries, he told followers he planned to spar the next day. "I am good, bro, I am sparring tomorrow," he said. True to his word, Strickland was back in the gym within 24 hours.
The champion recently defeated Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 328 to retain his middleweight title. Potential next opponents include Nassourdine Imavov and a possible trilogy with former champion Dricus Du Plessis, though nothing has been announced. Training through a concussion is unlikely to sit well with the UFC medical team.
This is the most Sean Strickland thing I have ever seen. The dude rolls a vehicle six times at 60 mph without a helmet, gets a gash on his head and a concussion, and his first thought is "I am sparring tomorrow." There is a line between tough and reckless, and Strickland does not even see that line in his rearview mirror.
I live a few miles from the desert where this happened. People wreck UTVs out there all the time, and it is not always a story they get to tell afterward. Strickland got lucky. Training on a concussion is genuinely dangerous, and I hope the UFC medical staff steps in here even if Strickland will not pump the brakes himself.
The middleweight division needs him healthy. He just beat Chimaev and there are real fights ahead. Do not throw that away because you wanted to prove how tough you are on Instagram.
