Sean Strickland recently sent the MMA world buzzing after he sparred with a former Navy SEAL at Xtreme Couture. Having tested an influencer, Sneako, a few months ago, the former middleweight champion wanted to test a Navy SEAL this time around. Although he decimated the veteran in sparring ‘Tarzan’ may have taken a liking to the Navy SEAL he fought, Mitch Aguiar.

There’s hardly anyone as vocal as Sean Strickland in the UFC. The former champion has never shied away from slamming social media influencers in the past, and most recently, he laid the verbal smackdown on Navy SEALs. But Strickland’s comments about Navy SEALs might have changed after his recent sparring session.

Sean Strickland praises Mitch Aguiar

Mitch Aguiar, in a recent interview, claimed that fighting was fun and a hobby for him. He has competed in martial arts and even fought while he was serving his country, winning many Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competitions. It’s safe to say that he is indeed a well-equipped and dangerous Navy SEAL, although he isn’t actively serving anymore.

A video clip from that interview surfaced on social media only to garner Sean Strickland’s attention. After the sparring video was released on social media, what followed was a plethora of comments from fans, who found it distasteful. It led the former champion to share the video while making an honest confession about his experience sparring with Aguiar.

“The only SEAL that said yes… But man… He’s one of the real ones. Probably why he was the only one that said yes,” Sean Strickland wrote on his Instagram stories. ‘Tarzan’, despite the way he talks down to people, seems to develop a sense of respect whenever he’s done sparring with them, which happened with Sneako as well.

As we’ve mentioned above, the fans weren’t happy despite Sean Strickland’s coming out to claim how much he respects Mitch Aguiar. Hence, keeping that in mind, let’s take a look at what people had to say about the sparring video on social media.

What did fans say when ‘Tarzan’ beat down Mitch Aguiar?

The first and foremost thing that fans did was feel sorry for the former Navy SEAL. Why? Because he had diligently served his country. Moreover, with the 4th of July coming up soon, they didn’t seem to take a liking to the way he was treated by the former 185-pound UFC champion. The fans also questioned ‘Tarzan’ for showing such aggression towards a Navy SEAL, wondering why he can’t do the same against someone like Alex Pereira, who had knocked him out clean when they fought in 2022.

There were a couple of fans who mentioned the difference between MMA fighters’ training and Navy SEALs’ training, claiming that if the roles were reversed, Sean Strickland would have found himself on the receiving end of the beatdown. Regardless, seemed to side with the former champion because they believed that he had taken it easy on the Navy SEAL compared to the beatdown he laid on Sneako.

It remains to be seen who else will step up to ‘Tarzan’ in the future. Nevertheless, what are your thoughts on Sean Strickland’s recent comments on the former Navy SEAL? Drop your comments below.