Sean Strickland reclaimed the middleweight title in gritty fashion at UFC 328, then revealed he did it while dealing with a shoulder injury suffered just days before the fight.
Strickland defeated Khamzat Chimaev by split decision in the main event at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, handing Chimaev the first professional loss of his career.
After the win, Strickland said he fought with a Grade 1 AC joint separation in his shoulder that occurred the Tuesday before the bout during sparring with Johnny Eblen. “You guys want to hear something funny?” Strickland said before describing the sequence.
“So on Tuesday, I'm sparring Johnny (Eblen), that motherf*cker, the PFL champ. And I'm at Plino's gym, Cruz's gym, and he f*cking shoots on me, and I hit his brick-ass wall, and I separated my shoulder. So I had a Grade 1 AC joint separation on Tuesday.”
He went on to detail the aftermath of the injury. “I remember lying in bed on Tuesday night – I'm sure Chris has a video of me slamming the fucking shoulder; dude, get some better pads – and I'm lying (in bed). I can't lie on my right, my left side,” Strickland said.
“I'm like, 'You're such a f*cking idiot. You are such a f*cking idiot.' So in the back, I'd normally like to get better warmups, but I didn't want to warm up and throw my shoulder out. The entire time, like, 'You're a fucking moron.'”
Strickland entered UFC 328 as a +400 underdog at most sportsbooks.
