Sean Strickland reclaimed the UFC middleweight championship at UFC 328 while dealing with a separated shoulder he sustained just four days before the fight, an injury he revealed in characteristically dramatic fashion at the post-fight press conference in Newark.
Strickland, who is famously committed to sparring regardless of the timing, was working at Plinio Cruz’s gym in New Jersey on the Tuesday before the Saturday fight when things went wrong during a session with former PFL middleweight champion Johnny Eblen.
“Funny story. So Tuesday I’m sparring Johnny, that motherfucker, the PFL champ. I’m at Plinio Cruz’s gym and he fing shoots on me. I hit this brick a** wall and I separated my shoulder. So I had a grade one AC joint separation on Tuesday and I remember laying in bed on Tuesday night. I’m sure there’s a video of me somewhere slamming my shoulder — get some better pads! I was laying there and I couldn’t lay on my right.”
Despite the injury, Strickland competed and won a split decision over Khamzat Chimaev to become a two-time middleweight champion. During the fight itself, Chimaev added to his injury total when a strike broke Strickland’s nose during one of their exchanges.