Former middleweight champ, Sean Strickland is about to clash with Paulo Costa at the UFC 302 for the co-main. He would be entering the octagon for the first time after losing his title to Dricus Du Plessis via split decision back in UFC 297. Well, ahead of his clash against the Brazilian firebrand, let’s have a look at what happened to ‘Tarzan’ when he was a little boy.

Sean Strickland had a very tough upbringing, specifically because of his drunkard father. If not for his mother, we would have never witnessed the brilliance of Strickland in the promotion. ‘Tarzan’ has always stated that his mother was the reason for his success. However, the journey of a mother to watch her son become the champion was not all roses and sunshine.

What happened to Sean Strickland’s mother?

Sean Strickland has time and time again stated that his relationship with his father was not on good terms and the prime reason for it was his abusive nature towards his mother and himself. According to the fighter, there were times when his father used to smack his mother so badly that she would bleed. “My father, abusive, alcoholic, drunk, you know. Got on pills later on. Everything about him, I hated. Yes, everything about him. I hated my dad,” said Strickland in a conversation on ‘Thiccc Boy’ podcast in 2022.

During the same conversation, he explained that there was a time when his father would try to kill his mother. “He f***ing gets on top of my mom… He gets on top of my mom and is like strangling her. Saying, ‘Tonight’s the night you’re gonna f***ing die,'” recalled the fighter in another interview with Ariel Helwani in 2021. After a continued altercation with his father, Strickland and his mother left his father’s house.

It must be noted that Strickland’s mother introduced him to MMA when she took him to their nearest MMA gym. Well, Strickland and his mother have suffered enough, and now they are living a better life On the other hand, Strickland’s father had fallen victim to his toxic lifestyle as he died back in 2017 after battling cancer.

Now that we know about his past, let us have a look at his future as well.

‘Tarzan’ is expecting a bloodbath in his fight against Paulo Costa

What happens when you take two of the most ruthless fighters in the division and force them to fight against each other? Well, people are going to witness that this weekend when Sean Strickland locks horns with Paulo Costa. Both fighters lost their last fight and badly need a win. With their records at stake, one should expect a bloodbath between fighters.

A bloodbath is what the community is predicting, and that is what Strickland is looking forward to as well. While having a conversation with ‘Submission Radio’, Strickland said, “The five rounds, I think definitely favors us. And that’s the mentality right now, is to try to drag this dude into some deep waters. I’m hoping we can get him out of there by Round 4 or Round 5. But this dude’s tough… It’s going to be up to us to just keep chipping away at him, chipping away at him… That’s the goal.”

Well, things are about to heat up as Paulo Costa has enlisted two Olympic boxers to aid him in his training. What are your predictions for the fight? State your thoughts in the comments below.