Sean Strickland is scheduled to headline a Fight Night event on February 21 against Anthony Hernandez. However, that bout isn’t what has recently put ‘Tarzan’ in the spotlight. The former middleweight champion has stirred controversy recently after a public falling-out with someone once considered his closest ally. And the name may surprise some.

It’s none other than welterweight contender Chris Curtis. The two have shared a long, complicated history, but were widely regarded as close friends. They trained together at Xtreme Couture and even co-hosted a podcast. Now, that friendship appears to be on the brink, after Sean Strickland decided to invite a certain individual into their gym. 

Who did Sean Strickland invite to Xtreme Couture? 

In a video shared by Jake Shields, Strickland can be seen introducing Kyle Rittenhouse to fighters at the Xtreme Couture gym as “This dorky motherf—ker.” In August 2020, 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse shot and killed two men and wounded a third during protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

In court, he claimed self-defense and was acquitted on all charges—including homicide—in a November 2021 trial after the jury accepted his self-defense argument. Regardless, Curtis wasn’t happy about seeing the now 23-year-old in the gym he had trained for years, and even considers his home. “Sean, you know how I feel about this s—t,” Curtis asked Strickland, confronting him. 

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“Why would you invite this guy?” Curtis continued in the video. “Why would you do this? F—k this guy. He’s innocent the same way Bill Cosby is innocent. Why would you do this, you know, how I feel? Why would you [ invite him to] my f—king home, bro? I would never disrespect you like this.” All Strickland could do was try to de-escalate the situation at the time. 

Curtis hasn’t fought since his July 2025 split decision win over Max Griffin. He doesn’t appear to have any planned fights coming up this year yet. In the meantime, Strickland dropped a unanimous decision loss to Dricus Du Plessis in February last year. And he is looking to bounce back with his upcoming fight against Hernandez.

Regardless, the story doesn’t end there, as Strickland took to X to respond to Curtis’ outburst upon seeing Rittenhouse in his “home.”

Strickland thought Chris Curtis wouldn’t care

Since the incident, Strickland has issued a statement on the matter. “Kyle Rittenhouse is a dorky white kid who was hanging out with a bunch of OLDER WEIRDOS, who wanted to be military larpers…,” Strickland wrote on X. The former middleweight champion proceeded to defend Rittenhouse’s actions back in August 2020. 

However, he didn’t blame Curtis for his reaction either. “Curt is a good man. I didn’t think Curt would care, but that being said, I truly can’t fault him for his reaction when I think about it,” Strickland added. He claimed that it’s all a byproduct of propaganda created by the media before sharing a parting message with his followers. 

“This is just a reminder to live life and [not] let politics consume you. It’s all one giant manipulation from the right and left… Your Twitter thumbs aren’t going to change the world, try to be happy….”

It appears Sean Strickland may have jeopardized his friendship with Chris Curtis in pursuit of attention after inviting Rittenhouse to the gym. But was Curtis’ outburst justified?