Content warning: This article mentions childhood grooming. This may be harmful or triggering to some readers.
Strickland displayed a dominate performance over Anthony “Fluffy” Hernandez over the weekend at UFC Houston.
Fluffy Hernandez opened up as a -275 favorite over his fellow California native and according to CBS sports, Hernandez was even slated as a 3-1 favorite for some sporting books. However, the heavily favored fighter would struggle to “drown” Strickland under the constant pressure he had used to break his previous opponents.
It seemed as though Fluffy had absolutely no answers for the game plan of his opponent, with Strickland walking down Hernandez and overwhelming him with each exchange. Sean had no issues busting up the face of Hernandez early on in the fight with his constant and accurate jabs, and stuffing the takedowns of Fluffy in a manner that almost looked effortless to the surprise of many.
Ultimately Strickland would score a devastating knee up the middle to the body of Hernandez before securing a TKO victory.
While the talk of the night should have been centered around the main event, it seemed as though Strickland had other plans as he would go on to accuse his opponents coach Jim West of being a “predator.”
Jim West, who is the head coach for MMA Gold based out El Dorado Hills, California is alleged by Strickland to have “groomed” the former UFC bantamweight, Aspen Ladd, beginning at the age of 14 before going on to marry her shortly after her 18th birthday.
Ladd has taken to platforms such as Instagram to publicly combat these claims put forward by Strickland, stating that she was the individual who started the relationship between her and coach Jim West further saying she had been pursing him romantically for some time and pointing out how well she has been treated ever since the relationship had started describing herself as,”spoiled and cared for.”
Strickland has always been know for his brash and outspoken demeanor but it seems as though this comments went too far, resulting in the UFC public relations team pulling the plug on Seans microphone and ending the number .2 ranked middleweight’s post fight interview early causing outrage from many fans viewing the action as “soft” in a sport that is bathed in and birthed from controversy.
