The last time Sean Strickland was in Australia he claimed to have punched a fan before going on to win the UFC middleweight title.
The former middleweight champion, who goes into Sunday's UFC 312 title fight in Sydney against Dricus Du Plessis as the challenger, won the belt against Israel Adesanya in September of 2023.
Strickland was rarely on pay-per-view cards before the UFC 293 title match-up, having headlined UFC Fight Night cards in the past. So when he arrived in Sydney for the build up for the clash, the colourful American took advantage of the extra attention and made headlines with his antics.
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Reports at the time stated Strickland was walking at Bondi Beach with his girlfriend, when a fan of Adesanya's walked up to him and said: "Izzy is going to f— you up".
Sean Strickland in his first clash with Du Plessis. Getty
Strickland went on to tell media that he punched the fan in the stomach, although no footage of the incident has ever emerged, nor has the fan ever spoken up.
"Boom, right in the guts," Strickland said in 2023.
"I'd only been in Australia a day and already I'd committed an assault. Initially, I thought the guy was coming up for a photo. Because anybody who wants a photo, man, I love the fans.
"But if you wanna come up to me and run your f—-ing mouth, I'll smack you like I smack anybody else. Uppercut to his stomach. Then I walked away. But if I see the guy again, man, no problems… I'll thank him for not pressing charges."
Upon returning to Australia for his rematch with Du Plessis, Strickland confirmed he may have stretched the truth when recounting the story of his interaction with the fan.
Sean Strickland with Donald Trump. Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
He now says he never punched the fan, and the contact was more of a light slap. In addition, the American said he would like for the fan to reach out.
"Let me tell you, I did not punch," Strickland told Fox Sports.
"It was a friendly, like, 'hey buddy, hey friend'.
"There was no punch, it was real nice, it was more of a handshake with a 'nice to meet ya'.
"It was real nice actually, he was a real nice guy."
He added: "I'd give him a ticket to the fight. I'd hook him up."
