UFC middleweight contender Sean Strickland has earned himself a reputation as MMA's madman with his wild social media posts and controversial sparring sessions.
The 31-year-old, who is set to fight Alex Pereira this weekend at UFC 276, is on the cusp of earning a shot at 185lb champion Israel Adesanya who headlines the card this weekend against Jared Cannonier.
Strickland can earn himself a shot at UFC gold this weekend
'Stylebender' recently labelled Strickland a 'rotten apple' and claimed he would never spar with someone like the man who he could well face later this year.
"I've seen his sparring footage and I would never spar with an idiot like that," Adesanya said ahead of his main event at UFC 276.
"I've hurt people in sparring before and I'm just like, 'Oh, s***, my bad'.
"Or I'll pull back with the body shot or whatever, but I've seen what he does.
"I don't like to hurt people even though that's our job. I like to make sure they come back the next day to do their job and give us work.
"He's got many screws loose, many screws loose."
THE GOOD
Strickland has become one of the most controversial stars on the UFC roster
Although he is a bit of an oddball, Strickland is actually well respected by his teammates and many even enjoy sparring with him despite the bad press he gets.
The American goes 100 per cent in his training sessions and demands the same from whomever he is trading blows with, especially as the footage often ends up online.
In February, Strickland was helping former UFC light-heavyweight title challenger Dominick Reyes get back into fight shape during a gruelling sparring session.
'The Devastator' giggled as Strickland trash-talked his way through practice and told him: "I'm here to hurt you and you're here to play. I'm trying to f****** put you down."
It may not be everyone's cup of tea but having someone like Strickland around the gym always keeps things interesting and his teammates on their toes.
Despite his bad-boy reputation Strickland seems to have no problem functioning in a team environment
THE BAD
As you'd expect, the charismatic fighter's sparring sessions don't always run smoothly, as evidenced by his interaction with BJJ champion Orlando Sanchez last June.
During the session, Sanchez locked up Strickland's arm and the UFC star screamed in pain and accused the submission specialist of using a 'dirty move'.
'Tarzan' threw a spinning backfist to his opponent's head before unleashing a front kick to the body in response.
Throughout the clip, Sanchez insisted he didn't do anything malicious, but Strickland wasn't having it and ultimately walked out of the gym in anger.
The UFC middleweight reacted angrily when Orlando Sanchez did what he considered a 'dirty move'
THE UGLY
Strickland posted his most controversial sparring session on social media earlier this year with the caption: 'This was consensual. Don't ban me Instagram.'
The video shows Strickland throwing a series of powerful shots at his training partner who looks exhausted and is just trying to survive the onslaught.
Ultimately, the UFC stand-out throws and lands a high kick that knocks his opponent out cold.
The unknown man falls through the ropes and others in the gym jump into the ring to check on their stricken teammate.
Strickland's most famous sparring session happened earlier this year
The 31-year-old face widespread condemnation when footage of the KO was released
After posting the footage online, Strickland received a ton of flack for two reasons.
Firstly, many fighters and fans didn't like the fact that he was actively trying to knock out his training partner when sparring is meant to be a learning experience.
Secondly, everyone has bad days in sparring. To some it's against code to share training stories publicly, so Strickland went way over the line when he blasted out the video of one of his good days for the world to see.
Like him or loathe him, it appears Strickland is here to stay and he is potentially just a couple of fights away from being the undisputed UFC middleweight champion.
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