Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Middleweight Sean Strickland needs to stay away from getting physical with fans.
That’s because he punched a fan the last time he fought in Australia, back at UFC 293, and almost had his fight with Israel Adesanya canceled, which would have prevented him from winning the Middleweight strap (watch highlights).
“Tarzan” didn’t get the memo, though, because he sparred with an Aussie fan today (Wed., Feb. 5, 2025) at the UFC 312 open workouts, but thankfully, this time, the fan agreed.
The sparring session started playful, with both guys putting their hands behind their backs at times and throwing light punches. Strickland hit the fan about 30 seconds into the spar with a body shot and dropped him.
To the fan’s credit, he got back up and started sparring again, and then, for whatever reason, snapped and started throwing a lot harder than he was … kind of like he wanted to drop him again. About 10 seconds later, Strickland’s coach, Eric Nicksick, ran out on stage and ended the sparring session as if he knew what would happen.
Watch the clip below:
The Happy Punch Twitter account pointed out after the video was released that Strickland sparred with the same fan in 2023.
Strickland tries to reclaim his title at UFC 312 this weekend (Sat., Feb. 8, 2025), rematching Middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis from inside Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
LIVE! Watch UFC 312 PPV On ESPN+ Here!
MIDDLEWEIGHT REMATCH! Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) continues its 2025 pay-per-view (PPV) schedule on Sat., Feb. 8, with a rematch between 185-pound kingpin, Dricus du Plessis, running it back against the man he lifted the belt off little more than one year ago, Sean Strickland, in the five-round main event. In UFC 312’s championship co-headliner from inside Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, women’s Strawweight roost-ruler, Zhang Weili, will defend her belt against undefeated (and oft-injured) 115-pound contender, Tatiana Suarez. UFC 312 will also feature a hard-hitting Heavyweight battle between Justin Tafa vs. Talisson Teixeira, alongside a Light Heavyweight showdown with Jimmy Crute facing Rodolfo Bellato, and so much more! UFC 312’s start time is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET (“Prelims” undercard) and 10 p.m. ET (PPV main card).
Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 312 fight card right here, starting with the ESPN2/Disney+/ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET, before the main card start time at 10 p.m. ET (also on ESPN+).
To check out the latest and greatest UFC 312: “du Plessis vs. Strickland 2” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.
