‘I Don’t Dislike Sean Strickland’- Marvin Vettori Explains Why He Has Been Training With Sean Strickland

Marvin Vettori will be in action in a couple of days at UFC Fight Night 196. The former UFC middleweight title challenger will go up against Paulo Costa in the main event. The build-up to the fight has been quite a story. This week, as Costa announced that he won’t be able to make the weight for the bout, it will be fought at 205 pounds.

Ahead of what is now a light-heavyweight fight, ‘The Italian Dream‘ sat down for an interview. During the conversation, he was also asked about fellow middleweight Sean Strickland and their sparring sessions.

While talking about Strickland, Vettori said, “Me and Strickland go back a pretty long time. We’ve been training together for years. We’re good sparring for each other, he knows. He always makes a long drive to come and spar because it’s not easy to find good sparring sometimes. He’s a good fighter and we’re always good work for each other.” 

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“There’s always a lot of craziness going on,” Vettori said. “But it’s good, you know. I don’t dislike Strickland. Listen, the character that he’s building, it’s a little bit crazy that’s for sure, but on a lot of things I agree and I get along with him.”

Sean Strickland has made a name for himself in the MMA world. He likes to fight hard and also some of his statements and antics have caught the eye of people.

What’s Sean Strickland been up to?

Sean Strickland is one of the toughest fighters out there in UFC’s middleweight division. He likes to go hard in a fight, and his sparring sessions are also always intense. However, his persona outside the octagon and gym is also quite interesting.

Strickland was scheduled to fight former UFC middleweight champion, Luke Rockhold, at UFC 268. However, Rockhold withdrew from the fight because of a herniated disc. The #7 ranked middleweight was not surprised with the former champ backing out. ‘Tarzan’ wrote, “He was never going to make it to the fight lmao… no one is surprised.”

After Rockhold backed out, UFC welterweight Belal Muhammad offered to step in to fight Strickland on short notice, but nothing materialized on that front as well. However, that didn’t stop him from sending a message to Muhammad, which was unusual, to say the least.

It was not just Muhammad who wanted to step in. The #2 ranked welterweight Gilbert Burns also wanted a shot at Strickland, but that also didn’t go anywhere.

What do you make of Sean Strickland’s antics? Let us know in the comments!

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