“Had to let him go,” Former teammate reveals to Joe Rogan why Sean Strickland got kicked out of his gym

UFC Veteran Dan Henderson discusses at length why he booted former training partner Sean Strickland from his gym.

“Had to let him go,” Former teammate reveals to Joe Rogan why Sean Strickland got kicked out of his gym

Sean Strickland responds to critics of Sneako's sparring video (Source: IMAGO)

Champion Sean Strickland has always been known for his unrestricted and unfiltered approach towards peers and fans. Now, former training partner and UFC Legend Dan Henderson has shed light on the same.

Speaking on The Joe Rogan Experience #149, Henderson reaffirmed that he had to let Strickland go for his misbehavior towards his peers. He, however, positively lauded the champion and spoke on his behalf. Speaking on the subject, he said:

He was at my gym for, like, three years. We kind of had to let him go. He just kind of gets too involved talking s*** about people. I liked him in the gym, I liked him there, he was a great training partner. You need at least one guy in your gym that does that and goes hard and makes everybody else go hard when they’re going against him, so I liked it.
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Henderson added that though Strickland was let go from Team Quest Gym, he rooted for his corner. He also recollects having told him to move up in weight class. Recounting old sessions and advisements, he said:

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He just was too disrespectful to teammates and stuff. I always rooted for him when he left, it wasn’t like I was like, ‘I hope that guy…’—No, I always rooted for him. I thought he had a ton of potential.

These accounts have lined up with various interactions Strickland’s peers have had with him. Strickland has found a new home at Xtreme Couture. He trained here prior to his middleweight bout with Israel Adesanya, for UFC 293. The new middleweight champion, however, has also run into conflicts with his peers here.

His notable misdemeanors have included assaulting a fan, social media squabbles, a massive tirade against social media influencer Keith Lee, and so on.

Sean Strickland looks down upon Khamzat Chimaev’s UFC 294 victory

Khamzat Chimaev fought in one of his toughest career fights against Kamran Usman at UFC 294. He took on and defeated the former welterweight champion in one of the stiffest matches ever. Both fighters matched each other’s energy and gave it all.

But unluckily enough, Chimaev drained most of his energy in round one. He even reported dislodging his arm with a strike.

Khamzat Chimaev and Sean Strickland
Khamzat Chimaev and Sean Strickland (Source: IMAGO)

The common consensus amongst fans of the sport was that the Chechen had a major advantage. Usman was a late entrant to the fight card, on very short notice. But the fight dragged on at a more mediated pace in the next two rounds.

Consequently, Chimaev has drawn criticism from former training partner Sean Strickland on the less-than-desirable showcase. Strickland had to defend his title for the first time with the winner of this bout.

 Strickland went on to social media to say Chimaev’s performance shouldn’t earn a title shot. Previously, he had also said that anything short of steamrolling the late-entry welterweight is unacceptable for Chimaev. He has however agreed to the match with the former partner.

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