UFC middleweight champion, Sean Strickland is set to take on Dricus Du Plessis, at UFC 297 this coming weekend. Strickland has a notoriously straightforward personality which somehow works with the fans. However, just two years back, despite being in the UFC for almost 6 years at that time, there wasn’t much known about the current middle champion, except for him being a brash fighter on a winning streak and a viral training footage.

Ahead of his fight against Uriah Hall, Strickland was training with Orlando Sanchez, which turned quite physical after a very questionable move by the grappler. Here is how the exchange got heated.

What happened leading up to the scuffle between Sanchez and Strickland?

During his camp leading up to Sean Strickland’s fight against Uriah Hall, the middleweight called upon grappling legend, Orlando Sanchez, to help him train for the fight. However, things escalated pretty quickly between the two.

As the two were having a grappling exchange, Strickland had an under hook on ‘The Big O’. However, Sanchez pulled an aggressive joint lock on Strickland, which seemed to hurt the middleweight. Strickland retaliated with a back fist to the grappler’s face.

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Sanchez defended himself, claiming that it was a “quick submission” not something with malicious intent. However, we could see clearly that Sanchez’s joint lock could’ve easily destroyed the champ’s ability to fight. Given how close Strickland was to his fight against Uriah Hall, the Grappler was reckless, regardless of ‘The Big O’ defending what he did.

Strickland was reported to have made peace with Orlando Sanchez after the altercation. Sadly, the BJJ legend passed away not long after, on December 15th, 2022.

The cause of death of ‘The Big O’

Taking first place in the 2015 ADCC 99kg championship and securing the second position in 2017, Orlando Sanchez is known for being one of the best grapplers ever in BJJ. However, later on in life, the BJJ legend started straying from the path of being a martial artist.

‘The Big O’ unfortunately passed away quite early in life at the age of 40. The cause of his death was unfortunately due to an accidental drug overdose. The Los Angeles County Medical Report revealed that the overdose was caused by fentanyl and methamphetamine.

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Despite the unfortunate end to Orlando Sanchez’s life, he is survived by his wife, Trisha, and their three children.

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