JRE MMA Show #143 with Sean Strickland

Joe Rogan 0:00 (drumbeats) Joe Rogan podcast, check it out.

Sean Strickland 0:04 The Joe Rogan Experience.

Joe Rogan 0:06 Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night, all day. (rock music) What's up, John Strickland? What's happening? We made it happen.

Sean Strickland 0:15 We made it, bro.

Joe Rogan 0:15 What's up?

Sean Strickland 0:16 I'm finally pseudo-famous enough to be on-

Joe Rogan 0:19 (laughs)

Sean Strickland 0:19 ... the Rogan podcast. Fuckin' let's go.

Joe Rogan 0:20 Oh, you're pretty famous after Saturday night. Hey, how's your eye?

Sean Strickland 0:24 Oh, man, the guy was try-

Joe Rogan 0:25 It's still pretty red.

Sean Strickland 0:26 The guy was trying to fucking salute his fuhrer, bro, fucking straight to the eye. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 0:32 (laughs)

Sean Strickland 0:32 He's, he's Russian, he can't say that.

Joe Rogan 0:35 (laughs) Let's see-

Sean Strickland 0:35 He only moved to Germany when he was 15. Oh, fuck, I dunno, man. Fucking life's weird, dude. It's fucking, is he Muslim? We all know how that goes. Oh, fuck, I'm ready to get canceled.

Joe Rogan 0:43 Well, it's, it's-

Sean Strickland 0:44 All right, guys, I'm joking.

Joe Rogan 0:45 ... he's just joking.

Sean Strickland 0:45 I'm just joking.

Joe Rogan 0:46 He's just joking.

Sean Strickland 0:46 You guys.

Joe Rogan 0:46 Can't we just joke around, folks?

Sean Strickland 0:48 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 0:48 Isn't this America? Um, that was a great fight.

Sean Strickland 0:51 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 0:51 Oh, it was a good one. It was a really, really good fight. And it was really interesting too because, um, that guy is so used to blowing people out in the first round.

Sean Strickland 0:58 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 0:58 You know? And he came out so hard in that first round.

Sean Strickland 1:01 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:01 And it was very interesting. You have a very interesting style. There's no one like you. Stand straight up-

Sean Strickland 1:07 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:07 ... y- even the way you hold your hands is different than everybody else.

Sean Strickland 1:11 It's more of a, like boxing. I like to box, you know? Yeah, no, it's funny, like, when he was throwing kicks he was kinda like giggling and laughing a couple of times when he hit me in the teeth, and once or twice knocked the wind out of me, but in my mind, I'm like, "You fucking pussy."

Joe Rogan 1:22 Oh.

Sean Strickland 1:22 Are you, like, you've ever been in a 25-minute fight before, sir? Like, we'll see how this, we'll see how this adds up.

Joe Rogan 1:28 Yeah, that's the thing, right? It's like people need to understand that, that like that if you're sprinting in the beginning, you can't do that for very long.

Sean Strickland 1:37 Well, he broke quick. I mean, he, like I-

Joe Rogan 1:39 Three minutes in.

Sean Strickland 1:40 I was shocked how fast he broke, and I'll tell you when I knew he broke. After he took me down, there was a moment where he was on my back, I'm like, "Fuck, this kinda sucks." (laughs) You know? I was thinking like, there was a moment I'm like, "Oh, this kinda sucks." Well, we know what to do, get to a hip, get your way up, break the hands. But whenever I broke his grip and he let go, it was like soft. It was like delicate-

Joe Rogan 1:58 Hmm.

Sean Strickland 1:58 ... like he broke like his, like del-... and I think I hit him. At that moment I was like, "What the fuck, dude?"

Joe Rogan 2:03 So he's saving energy.

Sean Strickland 2:04 But no-

Joe Rogan 2:04 He realized he was falling.

Sean Strickland 2:05 ... he quit, like it wasn't that he was saving, he just, he broke, like... (clears throat) So when you're fighting, you guys, wrestling's fucking hard. Wrestling's fucking difficult. And you have to make the juice worth the squeeze. So if you take me down and you're on my back, you gotta hold that position, loose grip for as long as you can. Maybe knee me in the back of the thigh, hit me in the head. If you could hold me there for 30 seconds and do light damage, that's 30 seconds of a round you won. And the fact that he didn't even attempt to do it, it was like, oh man, you're done. You're fucking done.

Joe Rogan 2:39 I was watching it at home and I noticed like at the three-minute mark, you know, there's a thing that you could tell, especially when you've seen so many fights, where you see a guy in the beginning and you see like how his body moves, and then you see a diminishment.

Sean Strickland 2:53 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 2:54 And I saw, like at three minutes I saw the feet were heavier, the movement was dif-... he was still, he still looked good-

Sean Strickland 3:01 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 3:01 ... but I was like, "Oh, he's already feeling it three minutes in."

Sean Strickland 3:03 Well, you know what threw me off? He fought my buddy, Sati Sai. And, dude, Sati Sai's a, a fucking savage. Like, he's a PFL champ, the fucking guy could strike. And he wrestled hard against Sati for like, you know, a hard three rounds. So I, I went in there thinking, "Oh, this guy has like a tank." I watched him wrestle my friend. Yeah, it was, it was shocking, man. But, you know... (sighs)

Joe Rogan 3:22 Well, he's only had two UFC fights.

Sean Strickland 3:23 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 3:23 He had that one fight, was it in France?

Sean Strickland 3:25 D- uh, yeah, against like Dustin.

Joe Rogan 3:27 Right.

Sean Strickland 3:27 But Dustin's a fucking can, dude. Like he should not be in the UFC. Like he, uh, again, I like Du-... he's a fucking yogi, dude. Like he does more yoga than training. He came to Vegas, I think I broke his nose in the first minute, and like, and then he came to Extreme. I pretty much told Chris Curtis, I'm like, "Curtis, if you let Justin, Dustin walk out of this fucking round, I will respect you less as a man."

Joe Rogan 3:49 (laughs)

Sean Strickland 3:49 You know? Like, you're not part of our fucking team.

Joe Rogan 3:50 (laughs)

Sean Strickland 3:51 Like if you, if he, if you let him have any success with you, dude, like I w- I will loo- respect you less as a man.

Joe Rogan 3:57 How did Dustin get in the UFC?

Sean Strickland 3:59 So it's kind of f-... I don't know who he fought but, uh, he picked up a guy, or a guy picked him up and slammed him, broke his shoulder.

Joe Rogan 4:06 Oh.

Sean Strickland 4:07 So his, his hype train was fighting a guy who, like, doesn't belong here.

Joe Rogan 4:12 So w-... the guy broke his shoulder in the slam?

Sean Strickland 4:14 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 4:14 Oh.

Sean Strickland 4:15 So now it's like, "Oh, Dustin slammed him," or something happened-

Joe Rogan 4:18 Hmm.

Sean Strickland 4:18 ... and then like that's how he got signed. But yeah, Dustin's a fucking can. And anyway, he's a fucking defector, bro. He's an American living in Germany. You can't respect that fucking guy.

Joe Rogan 4:25 Bro, how dare he?

Sean Strickland 4:26 (laughs) You fucking-

Joe Rogan 4:27 How dare he?

Sean Strickland 4:27 ... defector, bro. I don't even know what country-

Joe Rogan 4:28 Sorry, Dustin.

Sean Strickland 4:29 ... I don't even know what country, I don't even know what country you represent, you motherfucker.

Joe Rogan 4:32 I, I do not agree with the, the things Mr. Strickland is saying, Dustin.

Sean Strickland 4:36 (inhales) No.

Joe Rogan 4:36 Um, but I, I do agree, like that there's something about those guys that are used to taking guys out in the first round. There's s- something about those guys-

Sean Strickland 4:46 A lot of dude-... a lot of these like daggy Muslim dudes, they like, they're bullies, bro. They're fucking like, you know that fucking Ali, that fucking cunt, the manager, I mean, I'm probably gonna rub some people the wrong way, but fuck him. You know. I'm gonna see him, he's probably... we're gonna go fighting after I say that, he's probably, "Did you hear what Sean said about me?" I'm like, "Yeah, you're a fucking cunt, dude."

Joe Rogan 5:04 I like how you did the accent.

Sean Strickland 5:05 Yeah, he's a fucking cunt. So like this fucking cunt, Ali, good thing, I mean, I don't give a fuck, he comes to the gym, he watches me spar Marvin Vettori, right? And then we spar Marvin Vettori, and I don't give a fuck, dude. I- Marvin's a friend of mine, I'm trying to help him. And then fucking three weeks later you pull out this fucking guy to fight me? You know? And then you start betting a prayer that he's gonna beat me? Like you fucking, you fucking rat, dude. You come watch me spar and you pull this fucking guy outta your hat and you go bet Alex he's gonna beat me? So it's like fucking-

Joe Rogan 5:36 Isn't that standard, though?

Sean Strickland 5:38 I mean, I don't know, dude. I don't think managers should be in the gym. I think if you manage-

Joe Rogan 5:40 Interesting.

Sean Strickland 5:41 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 5:41 Yeah, interesting. That's, but, don't you think they have to kinda get a bead on w- how guys look and what they're doing?

Sean Strickland 5:47 Yeah, but then it's, it's rough, dude, when you like, when you watch me spar...

Joe Rogan 5:52 And then you're handling the guy.

Sean Strickland 5:53 And then, and then you're handling a guy.

Joe Rogan 5:54 Yeah.

Sean Strickland 5:54 Like, you know what I'm saying?

Joe Rogan 5:55 Right.

Sean Strickland 5:56 Like that, that, that's a rough one, dude.

Joe Rogan 5:57 Yeah. It's a, that's a t-... that's tricky. Well, that's why, you know, like elite gyms have closed door sessions.

Sean Strickland 6:03 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 6:03 You know?

Sean Strickland 6:03 As, as it should be.

Joe Rogan 6:04 Yeah.

Sean Strickland 6:04 You shouldn't fucking be able to go watch guys train. And again, I always tell guys, like my opponents, like, "You wanna come watch me train? Come watch me train. Hell, bring your, bring your best sparring partner and come watch me train."

Joe Rogan 6:15 Well, your style is pretty much the same in every fight. It's like a steady-

Sean Strickland 6:19 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 6:20 ... forward marching, and you're just very good at energy consump-

Sean Strickland 6:25 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 6:25 ... conserv-... conservation. You're just very good at knowing when to sprint.

Sean Strickland 6:29 Well, I mean, like, three weeks prior to the fight, me and my... I have a buddy named Robin Shafar, up-and-coming boxer, well, he's... You know, boxing is the most shady, shady business there is in the fucking world.

Joe Rogan 6:38 Oh, yeah. Makes UFC look like-

Sean Strickland 6:40 (laughs) Oh.

Joe Rogan 6:41 ... fuckin' (laughs) -

Sean Strickland 6:42 Bo-

Joe Rogan 6:42 ... like, higher education.

Sean Strickland 6:43 Yeah, boxing, you guys, is, is corrupt. So he's about 16 and 0, and the- the guy could box, man. I seen him put work on UFC fighters, like, I've seen him spar, like, Bellator champions, the guy does work. So we did, like, a no time limit, 40-minute boxing, just whoever quits, you know?

Joe Rogan 6:57 Oh, Jesus Christ.

Sean Strickland 6:58 Yeah, just 'cause we're just bored, you know?

Joe Rogan 7:00 A CTE special.

Sean Strickland 7:00 Oh, fuck yeah, dude.

Joe Rogan 7:01 (laughs)

Sean Strickland 7:01 Fuck yeah. So it, it's kinda funny. He was actually going through some, like, personal shit, and he beat me, he beat me that day. But, like, I was hitting him, I was like, "Dude, you just, like... There's something, like... There's something with you right now." And after we get done boxing for, like, 40, 45 minutes, he starts telling me his personal issues. I'm like, "Oh, fuck yeah, dude, you were ready to die today."

Joe Rogan 7:19 Hmm.

Sean Strickland 7:19 Like, that makes sense. I feel... I'm about to go for a hike with my girlfriend, bro-

Joe Rogan 7:22 (laughs)

Sean Strickland 7:23 ... and you- you're contemplating fucking life here.

Joe Rogan 7:25 (laughs)

Sean Strickland 7:25 Yeah, yeah, you win, dude. You fucking win.

Joe Rogan 7:27 That's like when Buster Douglas fought Tyson. You know, Buster Douglas' mom died, and Buster Douglas had always been, like, that really talented guy with a wicked jab, who just didn't apply himself, like many really-

Sean Strickland 7:38 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 7:38 ... talented guys. And then for that camp, he just went fucking full in.

Sean Strickland 7:42 Yeah. Yeah, some guys, some guys even when they have that, like... I mean, fuck, even walking, even sometimes me when I walk out, like, I gotta re- tell myself, like, "Dude, you are a fucking loser." Like, like, "You are a fucking... You don't belong here." Like, "Just go in there and kill this motherfucker." You know, like, I always joked, I always had, like... I had a teacher tell me in, like, seventh or eighth grade, one of the, one of the few years I went to school, she... I think it was, like, her name was, like, Miss Wadjda, I don't know, history or some shit. She looked at me, she said, "Sean, you're the reason (laughs) -"

Joe Rogan 8:12 (laughs)

Sean Strickland 8:12 "You're the reason why they build prisons."

Joe Rogan 8:13 Oh, Jesus Christ.

Sean Strickland 8:15 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 8:15 You're a little kid, can you imagine that?

Sean Strickland 8:17 No, dude, but she, she fucking s- nail on the fucking head, dude.

Joe Rogan 8:21 (laughs)

Sean Strickland 8:21 Like, I was a fucking shitbag, you know? It's like-

Joe Rogan 8:23 Right. But shitbags can grow up and become actual men.

Sean Strickland 8:27 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 8:27 It's totally possible, to dismiss a kid-

Sean Strickland 8:30 (sighs)

Joe Rogan 8:30 ... at that early an age.

Sean Strickland 8:32 No, dude, but life is strange, man. Like, like, they do very good at isolating shitty people. So, I mean, I mean, like, when I was in elementary school, I was homeschooled in, like, third, fourth grade, till, (clears throat) till, like, you know, seventh grade, I went back to school. And then they spotted me right off the bat, like, "Oh, this guy is a problem, he's a shitbag." Like... And they'll... So they isolate you, they put you in, like, a school where you start two hours later and you end an hour early-

Joe Rogan 8:58 (laughs)

Sean Strickland 8:58 ... 'cause they iso- they, they gotta isolate you.

Joe Rogan 9:00 Right.

Sean Strickland 9:00 High school, same shit, went to a continuation school. So, society, like, they do well at saying, "Hey, this kid is gonna be a problem. We just gotta..." Like, "He's like cancer, we just can't let him infect other people. Let's fucking put him away."

Joe Rogan 9:12 Hmm.

Sean Strickland 9:12 And then you go... And then you get older and then you just go to jail. Same shit.

Joe Rogan 9:15 But it's funny that those kids, a lot of those kids, they can do things. They just need a direction. They need something. And martial arts is the-

Sean Strickland 9:23 (sighs)

Joe Rogan 9:23 ... best thing for those kids.

Sean Strickland 9:24 And-

Joe Rogan 9:24 Every one of... I... When people say, "What's the best thing about bullies?" Or- or best thing, rather, to deal with bullies. I'm like, "Teach them how to fight."

Sean Strickland 9:31 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 9:31 You teach bullies how to fight, they're not gonna wanna f- be beating people up. They're... If you teach them how to train with real people, they're not gonna be-

Sean Strickland 9:38 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 9:38 ... doing that.

Sean Strickland 9:38 Man, I always say, like, MMA, like, even, like, soldiers with PTSD that's like... You know, I mean, I have a little bit growing up, like, just not even knowing what the fuck peop-... I always thought, like... It sounds fucked up, but I've always, like... When you hear, like, soldiers talking about PTSD, I'm like, "You fucking pussies." Like, this is how I was when I was a kid.

Joe Rogan 9:55 Right.

Sean Strickland 9:55 They're like, "Well, you know, at 20 years old, like, you know, I- I can't go in public" or "I- I can't sleep at night. I have, like..." I'm like, "What the fuck's wrong with you, you fucking pussy?" Like, give me a gun, I'll fucking shoot someone in the fucking head right now. I don't give a fuck. But then I realized that, like, me, I grew up so fucked up that that was my way of life. But I couldn't imagine being a normal motherfucker. Just being a normal guy trying to fuck the high school prom queen, going to parties.

Joe Rogan 10:22 Right.

Sean Strickland 10:22 And all of a sudden you turn 24, and then, like, the veil is lifted, and you're like, "Who the fuck am I?" So, like, once I kinda realized that, I had a lot more respect for them. But, you know, what I was going with that is, like, training, man. If you guys, if you guys have some fucked up issues, some demons, man, like, train. And a lot of people that train are fucked up.

Joe Rogan 10:38 Yeah.

Sean Strickland 10:38 So it's like, you have this good, like, brothership, this bond.

Joe Rogan 10:41 Yes. Yes. Yeah.

Sean Strickland 10:42 Yeah. It- it's- it's fucking did me wonders.

Joe Rogan 10:44 Oh, man, me too. D- so many people I know too. There's so many, like, lost people who are some of the most exceptional people that I know, because they went through that.

Sean Strickland 10:52 Well, I remember the first time in my life that I ever felt happiness. Like, even when I think about it, dude, it makes my eyes water. I was, like, 14 years old, you know, I was just a fucking fuck up, loser man. And my mom brought me to an MMA gym and I got the shit kicked out of me. Just fucking, like, got the bloody fucking nose. You know Paul Herrera?

Joe Rogan 11:12 Yep.

Sean Strickland 11:12 So, Paul Herrera used to run out of a gym, Empire MMA.

Joe Rogan 11:15 The Headhunter.

Sean Strickland 11:16 But he never, he never trained. Like, he was never there. He was always in the business trying to fucking peddle, you know, fucking juice or something. So it would just be me and, like, probably 14 to 21-year-old, we'd just be in a cage with four ounce gloves fighting. So I... The first day I went there, I made a fucking bloody nose.

Joe Rogan 11:32 I was thinking of Paul Blan- tell... Paul Herrera was the guy who fought Big Daddy Goodrich.

Sean Strickland 11:36 Yeah, he was the one that fucking got-

Joe Rogan 11:37 Yeah, the fucking elbows.

Sean Strickland 11:38 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 11:38 Oh, Jesus. With the fireman's carry?

Sean Strickland 11:40 Yeah, so fucking the first day I trained there, man, I mean, I got the shit kicked out of me. I mean, I was so happy. I remember walking out, like, "Wow, this is what it feels like to be happy." Like, "I've never fucking felt this," you know?

Joe Rogan 11:50 You got it all out of your body.

Sean Strickland 11:51 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 11:51 Yeah.

Sean Strickland 11:52 And I was like, "Fuck, I'm addicted." I mean, I, like... Even going into that, dude, I was, like, I was, like, 14, 15. I had, like, crazy racist views. Like, I mean, I was like a little fucking Hitler Youth, which is funny to make fun of a boost, but like-

Joe Rogan 12:03 (laughs)

Sean Strickland 12:04 ... I- I... Le- let's shit you not, dude. Like, I was, like... I was on a fucked up path. Even, like, you know, I always like wearing white shirts and boots and jeans-I stopped wearing this. I used to wear this ... This is all I wore when I was a kid. But I stopped wearing it once I started training, because I thought it looked too much like a white supremacist.

Joe Rogan 12:22 Hmm.

Sean Strickland 12:23 So, I was like, "I can't wear that shit anymore."

Joe Rogan 12:24 A white shirt?

Sean Strickland 12:25 Well, 'cause you wear your white shirt, your boot ... You ever see American History X?

Joe Rogan 12:28 Oh, okay.

Sean Strickland 12:29 So, like, it's like the standard, you look like a white supremacist, and I loved that shit. When I was a kid, I, I loved that shit. That's what I wanted to look. I wanted to look like a piece-of-shit white supremacist.

Joe Rogan 12:39 Hmm.

Sean Strickland 12:39 So, when I started training, I was like, "Oh, dude. You, like ... You are lost, dude." Like, "That's not who you are. That's not what you believe." I, like, went away for a minute.

Joe Rogan 12:46 Hmm.

Sean Strickland 12:46 I grew my hair out fucking super long, got the name Tarzan, I didn't dress like that. And now, as an adult, I'm like comfortable with who I am. I'm not fucking ... I'm not a racist. I love everybody. Now, I could go back to, like, my roots of being just a white trash motherfucker.

Joe Rogan 13:00 (laughs)

Sean Strickland 13:00 Like, that's nice, man. I've really accepted who I am, you know?

Joe Rogan 13:03 Well, it's, it's so interesting to watch people go through these changes in life, and these trials through adversity, and become, like, a v- a very interesting person at the end of it.

Sean Strickland 13:14 Oh, yeah.

Joe Rogan 13:14 You know? Like, I l- I ... You know, I know you say a lot of outrageous shit and it's very funny, but you also say some very good shit. You know? Like, this speech that you gave when you were talking about America, like, the, the, like ... That speech, the post-fight press conference speech.

Sean Strickland 13:26 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 13:26 It's a fucking great speech.

Sean Strickland 13:27 Well, d- you know what it is, Z-Man? I, I'm white trash. Like, I ... Like, what I mean by that is, like, I am the future of America, so like, w- like ... Both my parents worked. You know, my dad's piece of shit, but, you know, he's fucking in hell probably right now. But both my parents worked. They made good money, but we were poor. We were poor because after the cigarettes, the bars and the fast food, we're fucking poor. I mean, like, you know, we had like fucking ... I can't tell you, you'd find a piece of paper and you wrinkle it up, you use it as fucking toilet paper.

Joe Rogan 13:55 Hmm.

Sean Strickland 13:55 You know? (laughs) Like, there were times I wiped my ass with a, with a piece of fucking paper you get l- laying around. But this is like ... It's like this unholy alliance that corporations are doing to America. They want women working, they want lower wages, and they want more consumerism. And it's like ... I don't mean it. Like, I'm not sexist. Like, "Oh, put women back in the kitchen," you know, "they suck." No, I love fucking women, you know? Take off the burka, wear a fucking bikini, and huzzah. (laughs) But ...

Joe Rogan 14:25 (laughs)

Sean Strickland 14:25 But you know what I'm saying? But we're, we're truly, like, in a, in a weird time to where, like, corporations are er- eroding, eroding values of America.

Joe Rogan 14:35 Well, they act within their best interests.

Sean Strickland 14:38 It's ... Make money.

Joe Rogan 14:38 In their best interests to keep people, consumers, and make sure the people just pay attention only to stupid shit.

Sean Strickland 14:46 Or, you, you have Walmart in the, in the, in your phone now.

Joe Rogan 14:49 Mm-hmm.

Sean Strickland 14:49 You wanna go ... I mean, I can't even ... Even me, I'm to blame. There's sometimes, you guys, where I'm like, "Man, I'm a little depressed, I don't know, I'm fucking j- just in a bad mood." I'm like, "I'm gonna go on Amazon. Let's see what the fucking Amazon fairy is recommending me today."

Joe Rogan 15:01 (laughs)

Sean Strickland 15:01 "Maybe I could ... Maybe I could find something that'll give me a little serotonin boost."

Joe Rogan 15:04 Find some happiness in a one-click.

Sean Strickland 15:06 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 15:06 Yeah.

Sean Strickland 15:06 And then so, it's like you ha- ... And then you have like ... And then on top of that, now we go full circle. You have two parents working, and I'm going mostly on the w- the West Coast, you have shitty fucking kids, dude. Las Vegas, graduation rates less than 50%. High school dropout, no GED. I'm not one to talk. But how do you raise, how do you raise a family, a successful family, when your kids are being raised by the system?

Joe Rogan 15:32 Right.

Sean Strickland 15:32 By fucking TikTok. After my fight, I had the doctor. You know, good, good guy, the doctor at UFC. He comes up to me, he's like, "Hey, why you, why you talking bad about Las Vegas?" I'm like, "Well, 'Doctor John," whatever your name is. 'Doctor,' you're a cool dude. "What, what school do your kids go to?" And he just like gets a big, like, smirk. I'm like, "Yeah, I'm sure you're paying like 50, 50-plus a year-

Joe Rogan 15:52 Right.

Sean Strickland 15:52 ... to educate your kids." Like ... So, again, man. I mean, where's the reset button? Maybe there is no reset button.

Joe Rogan 15:58 I think the reset button is teaching people that there's things that you can do in life that can transform you. And I think, as weird as that sounds, a lot of people learn that through watching people like you evolve through fighting, because it's the most difficult thing you could do. Outside of war and being a cop and being a fireman, it's the most difficult physical pursuit that a person can get involved with for a living.

Sean Strickland 16:21 Mm-hmm. But again, we're talking on such a deeper, fundamental level. If you have no belief, like, we could say America's becoming atheists. Like, we could say that. If you have no belief, if you have no moral right, no wrong-

Joe Rogan 16:33 Right.

Sean Strickland 16:34 ... and you're not taught this from, like, a stable family, and you're being raised ... I mean, like, literally, America's becoming like Communist China, where like we're letting our school system dictate values and beliefs. We're letting the system tell you what your kids are. And again, I'm agnostic, so I'm not, I'm not telling anybody to go find Jesus, you know? If you're gonna find somebody, at least, at l- least let it be fucking Jesus, right? But, uh ... I mean, how do you, how do you fix a moral decay of a society when that's just where we're going?

Joe Rogan 17:02 Hmm.

Sean Strickland 17:03 You got TikTok, man. Even in, even fucking Communist China will, will mitigate what shows on TikTok, but they give us utter fucking filth.

Joe Rogan 17:10 But it's just, uh ... I know exactly what you're saying. And I, I ... You know, I went through the public school system, but I did it in the 1980s, and it was very different.

Sean Strickland 17:17 Ah, it's getting worse. Getting worse.

Joe Rogan 17:18 Yeah, it's a lot worse now.

Sean Strickland 17:19 But, I mean, how do you ... Like, again, like if you were, you know, if you were God, Joe Rogan, how do you fix this?

Joe Rogan 17:23 You gotta pump ... You gotta pump a lot of money into inner cities. You gotta, you gotta figure out a way to y- make programs and, um ... There's, there's places in this country that, for decades and decades, have been filled with crime and gang violence and drug addiction, and that's all they know. And that's, that's the standard of their community and that's what you grow up with and that's what you see. And if, and if we don't fix that, the odds of those people coming out of there ... I mean, there's a few that come out of there that become, you know, um, whether they're artists or athletes or whatever it is, they find a way through. They figure it out. But they're the rare ones.

Sean Strickland 18:00 Okay.

Joe Rogan 18:00 They're the rare ones. What we gotta do is create systems where you have opportunity for kids, and also mitigate the crime and mitigate the violence. And, and d- ... Whatever the fuck has to be done. Look, if they can dump billions of dollars into Ukraine-

Sean Strickland 18:16 (laughs) They fucking can.

Joe Rogan 18:17 If they could dump billions of dollars into-

Sean Strickland 18:20 Retain.

Joe Rogan 18:20 I mean, there's so many different things that they, they pump money into. But they've never pumped any money into Baltimore. They never pumped any money into Detroit. Like-

Sean Strickland 18:27 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 18:27 ... try to figure out a way ... Like, if you can s- like, think about like what Halliburton did during the Iraq War. They got these no-bid contracts where Cheney was the fucking CEO of Halliburton. He becomes the Vice President of the United States, and then the company he worked for gets these no-bid contracts-

Sean Strickland 18:43 Fuck you.

Joe Rogan 18:43 ... to rebuild shit we blow up.

Sean Strickland 18:45 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 18:46 Which is wild, but there's profit in that, right?

Sean Strickland 18:49 100%.

Joe Rogan 18:49 So, what about figuring out a way to funnel that profit into fixing inner cities?

Sean Strickland 18:54 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 18:54 Fi- y- if, if we have less losers, we have a better America.

Sean Strickland 18:58 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 18:58 And if you give people more opportunity, you have less losers.

Sean Strickland 19:01 You know, so even let, let's go on the smallest scale of sex. Like, uh, how old are you, Joe? Do you want-

Joe Rogan 19:07 55.

Sean Strickland 19:08 When did, when was the first time you started watching porn? Can I ask that question right now?

Joe Rogan 19:10 Yeah. It was, uh, VHS tapes came out when I was like, I probably was like 15, 15 or 16.

Sean Strickland 19:15 Okay. So, I mean, we had, uh, my brother ... So, my brother is a few years older than me, so he remembers things that I don't, but he'll like tell me 'em. And like, I'm like, "Oh, shit. I forgot about that." So, I was watching porn in like early elementary school, like first grade and second grade. Like, because we had like a communal porn box.

Joe Rogan 19:34 Oh, yeah.

Sean Strickland 19:34 Yeah (laughs) . Like-

Joe Rogan 19:35 Yeah.

Sean Strickland 19:35 Like, my dad, my dad, my dad had this like fuckin' like an old school water heater box, and it just stacked with fucking porn, right?

Joe Rogan 19:43 (laughs)

Sean Strickland 19:43 (laughs) So, you kids don't know about this, but we had like the communal VCR, so like you would go to, you would go to watch Aladdin, you know? And all of a sudden like Buttfuckers 29 is on the fucking TV.

Joe Rogan 19:56 Yeah.

Sean Strickland 19:56 So, I started watching porn when I was like, I don't know, I was jerking off to fucking third grade, dude. My fucking third grade teacher.

Joe Rogan 20:03 Wow.

Sean Strickland 20:04 But like, but I was surrounded by that.

Joe Rogan 20:05 Right.

Sean Strickland 20:06 Right? So, so already I'm at this moral decay. And it was like ... And I was the odd one. I was the odd one, man. Like, I had to go fucking find the porn. I had to go fucking ...

Joe Rogan 20:17 Yeah.

Sean Strickland 20:17 My brother always jokes, my brother always jokes that like when he would like take my dad's porn tape out of the VCR, he would always have to (laughs) rewind it to where he started so no one knew he was watching porn. But then he jokes, he said, "Oh, man. I always know where my dad's coming now." (laughs)

Joe Rogan 20:30 (laughs)

Sean Strickland 20:30 'Cause you know right when you-

Joe Rogan 20:32 You know the spot? (laughs)

Sean Strickland 20:33 ... right when you come, you just shut the fucking thing off. Oh, that gross.

Joe Rogan 20:37 But still like, yeah, right? Fucking A, yeah, dude. My dad was fucking ... I'm surprised I'm not more fucked up. But, you know ... So, what I'm saying-

Sean Strickland 20:45 Is he alive now?

Joe Rogan 20:46 No, he, he died of cancer. It's actually fucking ... Yeah, fucking I'll, I'll tell ya after. But it, it, it's kinda funny, um, like ... So, I'm an oddity. I'm an oddity. I'm jerking off from a little fucking kid, you know, I'm an oddity. Like, I'm, I'm fucking violent. But now, but now, dude, you give a little kid a cellphone and you have two parents working, next thing you know, I mean, you fucking go on Instagram and you got titties in your face. Like, now we're like hypersexualizing kids, and I, I think that's also a big moral decay. 'Cause the moment you become hypersexualized, oh, I can't stop thinking about fucking pussy and dick, like- Right.

Sean Strickland 21:23 ... it starts fucking your brain up at such a young age. So-

Joe Rogan 21:25 And it's a very unusual way to give it to kids, where they have instant access to watching porn on their phone-

Sean Strickland 21:31 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 21:32 ... all day long.

Sean Strickland 21:32 And then, and, and we have no morals. There's no, there's no reason not to be a shitty person these days.

Joe Rogan 21:36 Yeah.

Sean Strickland 21:36 You know, you ain't going to heaven. Just fucking go, fucking fuck the chick, cum in her. Like, you don't gotta raise your fucking kid. Uh, uh, so I think one of the best things we can do as a society is mitigate, mitigate sex. Because that is like the gateway to like ... That's why we wanna make money. That's why kids wanna sell drugs. That's why kids wanna go fucking party. There is no fucking pussy. Like, you know, no one, no one fucking like ... No one would be ... If like, if there was no fucking pussy, no one's going to a party. Like, why the fuck-

Joe Rogan 22:01 Right.

Sean Strickland 22:01 ... why'd I wanna go to a party and drink? I'm only going to get fucking pussy, you know?

Joe Rogan 22:04 Right.

Sean Strickland 22:05 Yeah. I always joke, I say, "No one shoots up a school 'cause they have too much fucking pussy." (laughs)

Joe Rogan 22:09 That's true.

Sean Strickland 22:10 But there are some good things about it. There are some good things about it, you know?

Joe Rogan 22:12 Oh, for sure, there's good things about it.

Sean Strickland 22:14 But-

Joe Rogan 22:14 But it is weird when it's like hypersexualizing kids.

Sean Strickland 22:18 Bro.

Joe Rogan 22:18 It's not good.

Sean Strickland 22:19 And then like you go and you see fucking kids these days, like the shit they wear, like fucking ... Dude, put some fucking clothes on. You're fucking like 16, your fucking titties are out, you know?

Joe Rogan 22:27 Well, they're being told that that's what gets them attention.

Sean Strickland 22:30 Yes.

Joe Rogan 22:30 You know? And they're being s- they see it all the time on Instagram when a girl has like five million followers and every photo is a picture of her ass or-

Sean Strickland 22:37 Yeah, her fucking asshole's hanging out and shit, you know?

Joe Rogan 22:38 Uh-huh.

Sean Strickland 22:38 I'm like, "Fuck, dude."

Joe Rogan 22:39 No, it's crazy.

Sean Strickland 22:40 Are you into Norm MacDon- Norm MacDonald fan?

Joe Rogan 22:42 Yeah, I loved him.

Sean Strickland 22:43 I fucking love Norm MacDonald.

Joe Rogan 22:43 He's a great guy, man.

Sean Strickland 22:44 I, I love this skit about like being famous. He's like, "What did we have to do after they went to the moon?" You know, like you had to go to the moon to be famous. Now, you just show your fucking asshole.

Joe Rogan 22:53 (laughs) Yeah.

Sean Strickland 22:53 Success, dude.

Joe Rogan 22:54 (laughs)

Sean Strickland 22:54 You fucking ... There we go, man.

Joe Rogan 22:57 Yeah, it's true. Norm was a gangster.

Sean Strickland 22:58 Oh, yeah. Norm was a fucking man.

Joe Rogan 22:59 And he, he didn't even tell anybody he had cancer.

Sean Strickland 23:01 Yeah, no.

Joe Rogan 23:01 Didn't tell anybody.

Sean Strickland 23:02 He was a fucking man, dude.

Joe Rogan 23:03 My friend Adam, who was a very good friend of his, he didn't even know.

Sean Strickland 23:06 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 23:06 He just fucking went off to Canada to die.

Sean Strickland 23:08 Yeah. A solid fucking guy, too, man. Like good-

Joe Rogan 23:11 Super solid guy.

Sean Strickland 23:11 Good ... Uh, you would never think, he was like a solid moral human being. But like as he got older, he started showing that like, "Hey, I'm a decent human being." You're like, "Oh, shit."

Joe Rogan 23:19 No, he was a great guy. He was a maniac, though. He was really f- t- just randomly for some reason, twice I was on flights with him, sitting right next to him.

Sean Strickland 23:26 No shit.

Joe Rogan 23:26 Just totally randomly.

Sean Strickland 23:27 No shit.

Joe Rogan 23:28 It was crazy. And, uh, one time we were on this flight and we're talking and, uh, he was telling, "Yeah, I, I stopped smoking. I don't smoke anymore."

Sean Strickland 23:36 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 23:36 And we were talking about smoking and this and that. And I'm like, "What, what, you know, what was it about smoking?" He's, "I'm telling you the whole deal." W- the moment we land, he goes right into a fucking store and buys a pack of cigarettes.

Sean Strickland 23:46 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 23:47 And he's lighting the cigarette up before he gets out the door. I go, "Wh- I thought you quit smoking?" He goes, "I did, but then I started talking about it and I wanted to smoke."

Sean Strickland 23:53 (laughs) Wanted to smoke, yeah.

Joe Rogan 23:54 He couldn't ... He was lighting it inside before he went out the door.

Sean Strickland 23:58 Fucking A. Hey, well, fucking man had a good life, dude. Yeah, uh-

Joe Rogan 24:00 He had a great life.

Sean Strickland 24:00 Fucking cancer, man. My dad died of fucking cancer. Fuck.

Joe Rogan 24:04 It's horrible shit.

Sean Strickland 24:05 My dad, dude. He was so fucked up on pills that like he had every kinda cancer. Like, I mean like body, brain cancer.

Joe Rogan 24:12 Ugh.

Sean Strickland 24:12 Like (laughs) all, every kinda cancer.

Joe Rogan 24:14 Ugh.

Sean Strickland 24:14 And I think the doctors were like, "Dude, how did you not know something was wrong?" Like, at this point, you should've been like, "There's something wrong with you," right?

Joe Rogan 24:22 Right.

Sean Strickland 24:23 Yeah, fucking A, dude. Yeah, and then he was like ... My dad was such a fucking coward, though. Like, he was the kinda guy, like, no. Norm did the right thing. He's like, "I'm gonna go to Canada. I'm gonna die with dignity." Nah, fuck that, dude. My dad was like, "Give me all the drugs. I'm just gonna ride this bitch out."

Joe Rogan 24:36 Well, if you're doing pills already-

Sean Strickland 24:38 Oh, dude, like-

Joe Rogan 24:38 ... and you, they tell you you're fucked.

Sean Strickland 24:40 And everything, do pills, man. You wanna talk about, like-

Joe Rogan 24:42 Mm-hmm.

Sean Strickland 24:42 ... the corruption. Like, I don't know. Uh, I, I'm sure our, I'm sure your viewers have a lot of experience with dealing with people who do pills, man. It's fucking-

Joe Rogan 24:49 Oh, yeah.

Sean Strickland 24:49 ... horrible, dude. Fucking horrible.

Joe Rogan 24:50 It's the worst. And, you know, that Sackler family, they just fucking bribed their way outta being prosecuted for that. They just gave up $6 billion so that they're immune to prosecution. It's fucking evil shit, what they did.

Sean Strickland 25:01 Yeah, dude.

Joe Rogan 25:01 They, they knew that stuff was addictive. They knew that people were gonna get hooked. They knew it was gonna ruin lives and kill people.

Sean Strickland 25:06 I mean, you're in the entertainment area. I'm sure you deal with it, dude. It makes you zombies. Like, like, pills suck the soul from you.

Joe Rogan 25:11 Oh, yeah.

Sean Strickland 25:11 When I was in my motorcycle accident, man, I fucking tore ... I'm still missing my quadricep. I fucking ... My left part of my kneecap on the road. And, like, I would not take pills, just 'cause I watched it my whole life growing up. It's like, "Fuck that. I'm just gonna be in pain forever, guys."

Joe Rogan 25:24 What's wrong with your quadricep?

Sean Strickland 25:27 Uh, so it's torn. It's gone, so-

Joe Rogan 25:29 You don't have a quad?

Sean Strickland 25:30 Yeah, no. If you ... There's a little indent right there. See how it, like, dips in?

Joe Rogan 25:33 Oh, whoa.

Sean Strickland 25:34 Yeah, so I got to the point where it's like ... I mean, I can go get a fix. I'm gonna be out for a year. So, you know, I'm, I'll deal with that shit.

Joe Rogan 25:40 How would they fix it?

Sean Strickland 25:41 Probably just, like, you know, maybe lan- ... It would be a pain in the ass. They'd probably have to, like, lengthen it. It's probably dead now. But, yeah, I think they probably could. But I'm gonna be out for a year, two years.

Joe Rogan 25:50 How much of it ... does it affect your movement? Are you compensated-

Sean Strickland 25:54 Uh ...

Joe Rogan 25:54 ... with the other muscles?

Sean Strickland 25:55 If I was a, if I was athletic, it'd be really hard for me to fight. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 26:00 (laughs)

Sean Strickland 26:00 But I stand like a fucking tree, you know. Like-

Joe Rogan 26:04 (laughs)

Sean Strickland 26:04 I'm the, I'm the easiest ... Like, it's so funny. Guys will come to the gym, like D1 wrestlers, and they're like ... I'm like, "Listen, dude. You could shoot on me. I'm the easiest motherfucker to take down. You're gonna take me down, but you ain't gonna hold me down." So I, luckily, I, I, I stand like a fucking idiot. So (laughs) I could, I could ... You know, it's not that bad. But if I was, like, an explosive wrestler, I would be fucked. I couldn't train. I, I wouldn't even fight anymore.

Joe Rogan 26:25 Hmm.

Sean Strickland 26:25 If it was my lead leg, it'd be hard too.

Joe Rogan 26:27 Hmm.

Sean Strickland 26:27 Because then ... I wouldn't be able to absorb the image. But yeah, so like ... Yeah, pills, man. Fucking scary. I'll never-

Joe Rogan 26:33 They're terrifying.

Sean Strickland 26:34 Dude, I'll never forget. My dad, my fucking dad, dude. He fucking ... I'm like s- 17, 18, and I come home, and, and like he's laying in bed, doing my brother's 1911. My mom bought us guns at like super early ... Like, dude, I was like in fucking, I was like in fucking elementary school with a loaded gun in my room, you know.

Joe Rogan 26:52 Really?

Sean Strickland 26:53 Yeah, my ... (laughs) White trash, dude.

Joe Rogan 26:55 Phew.

Sean Strickland 26:56 So I'm like 17, I come home, and my, and my dad's sitting there with my fucking brother's .45. You know, really cool .45. And he's like talking about killing himself. And I'm like-

Joe Rogan 27:04 Oh, God.

Sean Strickland 27:05 I'm like, I'm like, "Dude, Dad." Like ... I'm like, "Dude, you should do it, man."

Joe Rogan 27:08 (laughs)

Sean Strickland 27:08 "Like you should, you should fucking do it."

Joe Rogan 27:10 You told him to do it? (laughs)

Sean Strickland 27:11 Well, like, I'm like, "Dude, your wife's fucking f- fucking her boss. Your wife's cheating on you. Like, you're fucking poor. Like, you're a drug addict. Like, like, where's your path to success from here?"

Joe Rogan 27:21 You were telling him this at 14?

Sean Strickland 27:23 Uh, no. I was like 17.

Joe Rogan 27:24 Oh.

Sean Strickland 27:24 I was like 17. I was like, "Where is your ..." I mean, fuck, dude. I wa- I would've told him at 14. I probably would've at ... 14, I probably would've pulled the trigger. (laughs) You know.

Joe Rogan 27:31 (laughs)

Sean Strickland 27:31 But I was like, "Dude," I was, I was training now. I was like, "I was in a better place."

Joe Rogan 27:34 Right.

Sean Strickland 27:34 So I was like, uh, I was like, "Where, where is your fucking path to success here? Like, where, where is your happy ending?" I mean, there was that one point where I even fucked up. Gunpoint to his head, pushed hand on the trigger, and I said, "Just fucking," (laughs) you know. 'Cause when you're, when you're mi- minor sociopath too, you know, you kinda get power outta that. You kinda get a little-

Joe Rogan 27:50 Right.

Sean Strickland 27:50 ... kick out of it. Like, "Oh, yeah. I wonder if I could make him kill himself."

Joe Rogan 27:53 Jesus Christ.

Sean Strickland 27:54 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 27:55 Jesus Christ.

Sean Strickland 27:56 But fast-forward, fast-forward ... (laughs)

Joe Rogan 28:02 (laughs) It's great you can laugh at it now.

Sean Strickland 28:03 Oh, dude. I mean, fucking if you can't laugh at all your fucked-up ... Dude, I mean, I went through some shit growing up, man. But fast-forward, like ... Fast-forward, man. He fucking, you know, died 10 years later of fucking cancer, and if you would've just fucking ... (clicks tongue) Some people you can't help, dude. There's some people that like ... I mean, I'm not an advocate for suicide. But there are some fucking motherfuckers in the world you cannot help.

Joe Rogan 28:25 Yeah.

Sean Strickland 28:25 And if he would've just did it, he would've saved himself 10 years of misery.

Joe Rogan 28:29 Jesus Christ.

Sean Strickland 28:30 Yeah, no, dude. My dad. My ... The worst thing about my dad, dude, is like when I was a kid, dude, he was like the monster, dude. He was like the fucking bogeyman. And I remember this one time, dude. My brother fucking strapped him ... Like, and we're talking elementary school. Strapped a knife to his leg to go stab him. (laughs) Right?

Joe Rogan 28:45 Jesus.

Sean Strickland 28:46 And then he bitched out last second. But (laughs) I remember like him taking off the duct tape around his leg and just ripping all his hair outta his ... (laughs)

Joe Rogan 28:55 (laughs)

Sean Strickland 28:55 But, yeah. Later in life, dude, I think the first time I hit my dad, I was like 17. I headbutted him, broke his nose, and he just fell down crying. I was like so disappointed. And I was like, "You motherfucker. You piece of shit, dude." Like-

Joe Rogan 29:06 Wow.

Sean Strickland 29:06 ... "Dude, you're the biggest fucking coward," you know. Yeah, life's crazy. I mean, how's you, man? You get parents growing up ...

Joe Rogan 29:12 My parents split up when I was five.

Sean Strickland 29:14 Oh, shit.

Joe Rogan 29:14 But I got a good stepdad.

Sean Strickland 29:16 Okay. Well, about your dad, you talk to your dad, or you take that picture?

Joe Rogan 29:18 No. No, I don't talk to him at all.

Sean Strickland 29:19 Yeah. Fucking dude, men suck, man.

Joe Rogan 29:21 Some of them do.

Sean Strickland 29:22 I'm like a bull dyke, bro. I like fucking ... I'm done.

Joe Rogan 29:24 (laughs)

Sean Strickland 29:24 I just ... I don't know why lesbians hate me, you guys.

Joe Rogan 29:26 (laughs)

Sean Strickland 29:26 I'm, I'm with you. Fuck the men, dude. I like pussy.

Joe Rogan 29:29 Yeah.

Sean Strickland 29:29 I hate men.

Joe Rogan 29:30 Yeah.

Sean Strickland 29:30 Like, we're fucking ...

Joe Rogan 29:32 There's good men out there, but it's hard to be a good man.

Sean Strickland 29:34 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 29:34 It's a, it's a long path. It's a very difficult path.

Sean Strickland 29:37 Oh, yeah, dude. And then, you know, fucking good men make fucked up kids. They make fucked up ... And then you just have-

Joe Rogan 29:41 Sometimes.

Sean Strickland 29:42 ... you just have this-

Joe Rogan 29:43 Yeah.

Sean Strickland 29:43 But there's not really many good men out there. I'm, I'm going West Coast, you guys.

Joe Rogan 29:46 It's hard. It's hard to be a good man.

Sean Strickland 29:48 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 29:48 I mean, it's a lot of work.

Sean Strickland 29:50 Uh, well, growing up, my neighbor sucked. All my, all of the hoodlums I hung out with fucking sucked, you know.

Joe Rogan 29:54 Right. And that's all you know.

Sean Strickland 29:55 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 29:56 Yeah. Well, it's like what we're talking about with inner cities. Like, it's, if that's all you know, it's very difficult to see a path outside of that. It's-

Sean Strickland 30:02 I mean, if, if I, you know, say I fucking had a kid when I was younger, like that would've fucked that kid up.

Joe Rogan 30:06 Mm-hmm.

Sean Strickland 30:06 That would've fucked that kid up. I mean, white trash, trailer park ... I mean, not wanted to beat him or put my dick in him, but like, I would've fucked that kid up, you know?

Joe Rogan 30:12 Right.

Sean Strickland 30:13 Um, it's actually funny though. I always tell the story. My dad's dying of cancer, and he's doing like the ... He's doing his, like, forgiveness speech. And I'm like-

Joe Rogan 30:21 Oh, boy.

Sean Strickland 30:21 ... "Ah, get the fuck, dude." I'll go, "I'll go see you." He's like, "Sean, you know, I was, I was really bad to you and your mom. But, uh, but, uh ..."But at least I never put my ... At least I never, at least I never molested you.

Joe Rogan 30:32 Oh, boy.

Sean Strickland 30:33 (laughs) I was like, "Fuck yeah, dude."

Joe Rogan 30:34 What a low bar. (laughs)

Sean Strickland 30:35 I was like, "Fuck how many-"

Joe Rogan 30:36 Cheers.

Sean Strickland 30:37 Hey, you never fucked me-

Joe Rogan 30:38 Give me one of those oxys.

Sean Strickland 30:39 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 30:39 I wanna fucking ride this out with you. (laughs)

Sean Strickland 30:41 Yeah, man. Fucking angry.

Joe Rogan 30:42 What the fuck, man?

Sean Strickland 30:44 But I think also, too, that's why people like me, because most people are fucked up.

Joe Rogan 30:48 Mm-hmm.

Sean Strickland 30:48 They see me and they're like, "Oh, yeah, man," like, "That was fucked up." I watched my mom get the shit kicked out of her, too, you know. Like I've dodged a beer bottle on Christmas morning. (laughs) You know?

Joe Rogan 30:56 Awesome.

Sean Strickland 30:57 So I, I think that's why people like me, because a lot of people are fucked up.

Joe Rogan 31:01 A lot of people are fucked up, but you've managed to go through being fucked up to becoming one of the best fighters in the world.

Sean Strickland 31:07 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 31:07 That's the hard path.

Sean Strickland 31:09 Oh, man, I was obsessive. Like, like, I mean, when I was, uh ... So I didn't really, like, one, I was fucking angry, dude. Like, I mean, I wanted to fucking kill someone so bad when I was a kid. I'd walk around with a fucking knife just hoping I'd fucking just ... Like, fuck, I still wanna kill somebody. It just would make me feel good, you know. I just fucking just, oh, I fucking love it. But, so you had that kind of anger growing up, and I needed fucking s- ... That's why I was also white, white supremacists.

Joe Rogan 31:33 Mm-hmm.

Sean Strickland 31:33 I mean, could you picture being like ... Can you picture, uh ... I don't even know what this is like. And no one even interjected in my life. Me being 12 years old, walking around doing the fucking Heil Hitler salute with a fucking swastika on my arm. At no point did anybody say like, "Hey, maybe we should help this fucking kid." You know? (laughs)

Joe Rogan 31:49 Right.

Sean Strickland 31:49 I was in a ... I remember like seventh grade, I, I took a permanent marker and I drew a swastika on my arm. And the teacher took me outside and like berated me, like pretty much calling me a piece of shit. Like, "Do you know what that fucking means?" Like, you know, like, "You're a f-" Like just, "You're a fucking piece of shit." At no point was he like, "Hey, man," like, "Why is this fucking like 12-year-old kid-

Joe Rogan 32:11 Right.

Sean Strickland 32:11 ... having a swastika on his arm?"

Joe Rogan 32:13 Right.

Sean Strickland 32:13 Yeah. It's fucking ... Yeah, the system's weird, dude. The system's fucking weird.

Joe Rogan 32:17 Well, life can certainly be weird if you had those circumstances.

Sean Strickland 32:20 Yeah, fuck.

Joe Rogan 32:20 But you're, you're like best case scenario from those circumstances.

Sean Strickland 32:23 Training, man. It's fucking training.

Joe Rogan 32:24 Yeah.

Sean Strickland 32:24 I mean, dude, I was so fucking angry. Like, and that was the best thing about fighting for me is (clears throat) I could go in the garage every Friday night, Saturday night, and just hit the bag all night long. And when my brothers partied, my brother had these r- ... Like so we didn't have like ... We had parents, but like my dad was probably trying to fuck the g- the girls that my brother brought over for the high school parties, you know? So it's like ... (laughs)

Joe Rogan 32:45 Jesus.

Sean Strickland 32:45 My dad was out there probably giving them drugs and shit. So like, I would just be in the garage while all these fucking parties and debaucheries and fucking threesomes and foursomes were taking place. And I would just be in the garage fucking smacking the bag.

Joe Rogan 32:55 Mm-hmm.

Sean Strickland 32:55 Bop, bop, bop, bop, bop. And then like, I was ... I didn't fit in, so like, it was, it was really just a way f- ... "Oh, Sean's not weird. He's a fighter. Sean's not the fucking weirdo that doesn't know how to talk to people. He's a fighter."

Joe Rogan 33:06 All right. And that gave you your identity?

Sean Strickland 33:07 It gave me my identity. I mean, every night I'd be running at night.

Joe Rogan 33:10 Yeah.

Sean Strickland 33:11 Yeah. I mean, fucking-

Joe Rogan 33:12 Where, where did you start? What gym?

Sean Strickland 33:13 Empire. I was starting when I was about 14.

Joe Rogan 33:15 And where was that?

Sean Strickland 33:16 Uh, Corona, California. And then, um, I had my first like smoker fight at like 14. So I mean, we're ... I'm fucking old now, you guys. That was before amateurs.

Joe Rogan 33:25 How old are you?

Sean Strickland 33:25 I'm 32. That was like before amateur MMA, so it's like pretty much what you would do is you would just show up. They'd put chairs in, they'd buy tickets, and random people would just show up and you'd fight. Yeah, so that's how I started. And you d- I didn't even wanna fight. I didn't wanna fight. I was just like ... Paul Hair was a fucking scumbag. He was just like, he would show up and be like, "Well, if you're, if you're training here, you're fighting here. Go sell tickets."

Joe Rogan 33:46 Oh, boy.

Sean Strickland 33:46 Me being 14, I mean, I think my first fight was against a guy who was like 28 years old. And like-

Joe Rogan 33:50 (laughs)

Sean Strickland 33:50 ... you know, dude. My fucking nuts barely dropped, dude. But yeah, dude, anger, anger is a hell of a fucking thing, dude.

Joe Rogan 33:57 Yeah. And it's impossible to grow up like that and not have anger.

Sean Strickland 34:01 Fuck, dude. You know what's weird though? And, and, and the thing is though, it's not like ... And I try to tell people, like I'm not necessarily anger. I'm just, I'm not angry. Like, like I would love to fucking cut somebody open, and I'm not angry. Like, it just sounds nice. Like ...

Joe Rogan 34:14 (laughs)

Sean Strickland 34:15 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 34:17 You gotta get that outta your system, buddy.

Sean Strickland 34:19 My body tr- I wanted to go sparring three times a day.

Joe Rogan 34:21 Yeah.

Sean Strickland 34:21 But like, you gotta understand, man. You gotta understand, bro. You gotta understand, like, people are like, "Oh, go to therapy." Like, your brain, dude, like the damage is done, bro. It's unfixable. Like, I mean, there was one-

Joe Rogan 34:31 Don't you think that sparring and training is a form of therapy?

Sean Strickland 34:34 I feel like ... Fuck, why do you think I spar so much? (laughs)

Joe Rogan 34:35 Yeah.

Sean Strickland 34:36 And that's why I, uh, that's how I have such a good style where I don't get hit, because I love to spar.

Joe Rogan 34:40 Hmm.

Sean Strickland 34:40 And if I got hit, I couldn't spar.

Joe Rogan 34:41 Well, your control of distance, your distance management, because of all those rounds.

Sean Strickland 34:46 The UFC did a test where they let us wear a mouthpiece. And I think that like my whole training camp, I, like I barely even got hit. And I spar, like I sp- I sparred the most and took the least amount of damage than anybody in the program.

Joe Rogan 34:57 Because you spar so much.

Sean Strickland 34:58 I spar so much. But, dude, like i-

Joe Rogan 35:00 Is that the majority of your training?

Sean Strickland 35:01 Yeah, sparring. I really, sparring. I'll do pads occasionally, but it's all live goes.

Joe Rogan 35:05 Really? All live goes?

Sean Strickland 35:06 Yeah. Yeah.

Joe Rogan 35:06 What about strength and conditioning? You doing any of that?

Sean Strickland 35:08 Not really, no.

Joe Rogan 35:09 Really? It's just, just sparring?

Sean Strickland 35:11 Just sparring. Just sparring, man. Live.

Joe Rogan 35:11 There's no better way to get in shape for fighting than fighting.

Sean Strickland 35:13 And it's fun, dude. It's fucking fun, man. Like, you know, I ma- I'm such a nicer, better person, you know. Like after I go and try to fucking kill a man, I come home and my girlfriend, even if she wants to pick a fight, I'm like, "Baby, it's okay. Don't worry about it." Like, "Don't trip."

Joe Rogan 35:25 (laughs)

Sean Strickland 35:25 Like, "What did I fuck up? Tell me. Tell me. I'll fix it."

Joe Rogan 35:28 (laughs)

Sean Strickland 35:28 You know, like, life. And training, training's fucking nice, dude.

Joe Rogan 35:32 Yeah. Yeah.

Sean Strickland 35:32 But I mean, dude, I don't like ... I think a lot of people though have these crazy homicidal urges, dude. I think we all wanna fucking shank somebody, shove somebody.

Joe Rogan 35:40 There's a lot of people out there that have that. Yeah, there's a lot of unresolved anger.

Sean Strickland 35:44 Bro, I used to like ... I used to sleep in my mom's bed a lot, right? Because I thought... I mean, we're talking about like ... Well, when I shunned it in like elementary school, 'cause I like, I thought my dad was gonna fucking kill my mom. So every night, dude, I would like, I would go to bed thinking like, "Oh shit, my mom's gonna die tonight." You know? (laughs) His words, not mine. So like ...

Joe Rogan 36:03 Jesus.

Sean Strickland 36:03 (laughs) But I mean, you gotta learn to laugh at it, right?

Joe Rogan 36:04 Yeah.

Sean Strickland 36:05 At least he didn't, at least he didn't fuck me. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 36:07 (laughs)

Sean Strickland 36:08 I mean, I have some bad dreams, but I'm just gonna say those were bad dreams, right? So ... (laughs)

Joe Rogan 36:12 Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ.

Sean Strickland 36:14 So yeah, you know, repressed memories or bad dreams. It's, it's always better to just say bad dreams, right?

Joe Rogan 36:20 Yeah.

Sean Strickland 36:20 (laughs) So ...

Joe Rogan 36:23 (laughs) Oh, man.

Sean Strickland 36:24 So, I, like -- like, dude, I used to, like, sleep out by her fucking ... And this is where fucked up too, like, I used to sleep by her door and hear him fuck all the time.

Joe Rogan 36:31 Ugh.

Sean Strickland 36:32 Because, you know, because being a little kid, dude, like, and listening to your mom get fucked by your dad because, like, you're so afraid that she's gonna fucking die.

Joe Rogan 36:38 That's so crazy.

Sean Strickland 36:39 (laughs) Yeah, so there's one night, there's one fucking night, dude. And this is just like ... And mind you, this is nightly. This is nightly. But this night stands out the most. And my mom, fucking dumb bitch. I love my mom, she's amazing. I mean, she's terrible, but she's amazing, you know. She grew up in a box car, how do you fix that? So, her dad, her dad was a piece of shit. (clears throat) So one night, like, I'm, like, probably, like, third, fourth grade. And I went to go sleep in my mom's room. My dad's like, "Fuck that." They were having a bad fight. I'm like, "Fuck." So I'm, like, laying out by the door, trying not to fuck him, you know. And I'm like, "Fuck it," like, "I just don't feel good about this tonight. I don't feel good about it tonight." So I, like, crawl under the bed. I crawl under the bed, (laughs) and, uh, we had, like, dog ... (laughs) there was no white trash, bro. Like-

Joe Rogan 37:16 (laughs)

Sean Strickland 37:16 You ain't got white trash. Just got, like, like, fleas everywhere. Like, fleas, so I'm, like, I'm hiding under the bed now, there's fleas. I think there's a fucking dildo next to me, I remember this. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 37:25 (laughs) Jesus Christ.

Sean Strickland 37:27 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 37:28 (laughs)

Sean Strickland 37:28 I'm like, literally ... So, me being, like, third grade, there's a fucking dildo next to me, there's fucking fleas jumping all over me. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 37:33 Oh, man. So my dad, my dad gets on top of my mom and she says, uh, he says, "I'm gonna fucking kill." Maybe it was just rough sex. (laughs)

Sean Strickland 37:39 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 37:39 I don't know, man. They're gonna grab the dildo afterwards.

Sean Strickland 37:42 (sniffs)

Joe Rogan 37:42 (laughs)

Sean Strickland 37:42 So my dad gets on top of my mom and he starts fucking, like, strangling her, right? And he's like, "I'm gonna fucking kill you tonight." So me being a little kid, I get up, I'm like, "Fuck." The only thing I see is the guitar. My sister's guitar she's still mad at me about. I grab the guitar, I just fucking smack it up his head, grab the phone, call the cops, run down the hill.

Joe Rogan 37:57 Oh, my God.

Sean Strickland 37:58 My mom had that dumb bitch, bails him out of jail. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 38:01 (laughs) Oh, Jesus Christ.

Sean Strickland 38:02 But, you know, like, and this is where it's fucked up, dude. Like, my mom, like, my ... That's where, like, my mom grew up in a fucking boxcar in Death Valley, bro. Like ...

Joe Rogan 38:10 Yeah.

Sean Strickland 38:11 Like, how do you, you know, how do you fix that generation of fuck? (sniffs)

Joe Rogan 38:14 You do.

Sean Strickland 38:15 (laughs) Yeah, well, yeah. No, exactly.

Joe Rogan 38:16 That's, that's the way. You do by becoming you.

Sean Strickland 38:18 Oh, I don't drink. Yeah, for sure. For sure, man.

Joe Rogan 38:20 That's literally the only way, like, someone has to come out of that. They go ... Like, there's a way out of this.

Sean Strickland 38:24 Yeah. And well, the thing is too, is that I'm not, like ... I mean, yeah, I, I had a little, I had a little interesting ch- childhood, you know? Like a lot of repressed memories and bad dreams and shit we don't need to talk about. But, but, uh, like, man, I'm calming, dude. I'm calming. I'm way, I'm way more, I'm way more than you think.

Joe Rogan 38:39 Yeah, they just don't have a voice.

Sean Strickland 38:41 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 38:41 Yeah.

Sean Strickland 38:41 And, and this is, like, you know, like, you ... Especially today with the Black communities, the poor communities, man. I'm fucking ... Guys without fucking dads, like-

Joe Rogan 38:48 Mm-hmm.

Sean Strickland 38:48 Fucking rough, dude. Fucking ... Yeah, life is, life's hard, dude. Life's fucking hard.

Joe Rogan 38:53 Yeah, it ... But it really is. There's, that's the best path. Like, martial arts are the best path to recover from that.

Sean Strickland 39:00 Yeah. The only issue with martial arts though, dude, and this is what, like ... And this is what I tell people and, and if you got a kid who trains, and let's just say you're training, what I'll, what I'll tell you, dude, and this, and this is factual and you guys should always understand this. I tell every- everybody that comes in the gym, I had one guy, "Little old Billy Bob's a pankration champion." And I go like, "Oh, that's cool." And I tell him this. When I was a kid, I was like 14, training at a gym, and there was a guy named Zack Light. I don't know if you're fucking old school, used to-

Joe Rogan 39:28 I know who that guy.

Sean Strickland 39:29 But he was like, you know, um, like, 14 years old, this guy's like a hero to me. I'm watching him teach cardio kickboxing, I'm watching him teach, like, jujitsu and, like, he'll spar and fuck me up. I'm like, "Oh man, this guy's so fucking cool. He has the life that I want." And then hindsight, this man probably hates his fucking life. He's probably fucking half braindead and he's teaching cardio kickboxing classes for 20 bucks a- 20 bucks a class. So it's like, whenever you look at UFC fighters and you want to be this, understand, most of us, most of us end up poor, broke and regretting our life choices. Like, there's easier ways to make money, guys. I, I, I, again, I love-

Joe Rogan 40:07 That's true.

Sean Strickland 40:07 I love fighting. If it wasn't for fighting, I'd probably be a fucking ... I w- I wa- I wanna be a serial killer or I'd probably just be a, uh, just a fuckhead in jail with a swastika on my arm.

Joe Rogan 40:14 But don't you think that-

Sean Strickland 40:16 (clears throat)

Joe Rogan 40:16 ... like, that path ... If y- if you're ... You, you gotta be 100% obsessed to become successful.

Sean Strickland 40:26 If you wanna ... But even then, man. I mean, I see guys so often in life. It is kinda funny, w- we're talking about UFC and money. (clears throat) I was, uh ... I have a buddy named ... I'm gonna fuck his name. Oh sorry, Caio, Caio, Caio. Some Brazilian guy. Uh, contenders guy. Really good, really good guy, um. He's trying to fight Bo Nickal. Anyway, UFC guy. He just bought his first house having a kid. Dude, like, the average house in Brazil to buy is like $200,000. Like, maybe even less. I mean, that's like a nice house. A nice house. An average house in America is four or five. So it's like, you know, you, you see a lot more foreigners in this sport. And you're like, "Why are there more foreigners in this sport? America's pussies." And like, no, because they can afford it. You go and you fight, they sign, they're signing guys at 10-10. Like literally, 10-10. Like, 10-10 on four fights, man. Three fights you get cut. So they, they sign these Brazilians, these daggies, whatever the fuck you wanna call them. They go home with their 20K and they're living life good. They're living life good. How do you live on 20K in 20 kids-

Joe Rogan 41:23 And pay your manager and pay your trainers-

Sean Strickland 41:25 And-

Joe Rogan 41:25 ... and pay your gym fees, and food and proper nutrition.

Sean Strickland 41:29 So again, I think that's also a big reason why we're, we're seeing less Americans, because y- you know, they're taking our jobs. Like, fuck, dude. Like, (laughs) you know, it's easier to import them, man. It's easier to import fighters and they go back home to Dagestan, Brazil, and they live on their, let's just say, they make shit, shit money and they're happy.

Joe Rogan 41:47 Well, it's also who's talented and why are they, why are they so driven, and who's training them and what, what kind of environment-

Sean Strickland 41:53 But-

Joe Rogan 41:53 ... and they d- they're training in.

Sean Strickland 41:54 America is the best. We have the best athletes in the world, man. I- if there was, like, NFL money in NF-

Joe Rogan 42:00 Right.

Sean Strickland 42:00 In, in, in the UFC. Again, I ... People think that I, I hate on UFC, dude. I make more money in the UFC than I should make my entire fucking life. Like, I, I am a fucking company man. Like, if it wasn't for the UFC, bro, I'd fucking ... I'd be a piece of shit, probably be a fucking drug addict. But (clears throat) if there was NFL money in the UFC-... we would dominate, dominate the UFC. There would not be one foreign fucking champion.

Joe Rogan 42:23 But do you think that a lot of those guys who play sports, like they play U... they play football or they play, y- you know, basketball? Do you think they would wanna fight? Because you have to have a very different kind of mentality to wanna get into a ring or a cage with another man. It's different than playing a sport-

Sean Strickland 42:40 If it was a high school-

Joe Rogan 42:41 ... the pressure, the- the- the consequences.

Sean Strickland 42:43 If it was a high school thing and you could go get a D1 scholarship and you could leave the ghettos by- by being an MMA fighter, 100%. 100% they would do it.

Joe Rogan 42:52 Yeah.

Sean Strickland 42:52 Fuck yeah, man.

Joe Rogan 42:53 So, how do we fix that?

Sean Strickland 42:55 (sighs) Like, money in the UFC? I don't know. I mean, fuck, I don't know. You know more about that than me. Um-

Joe Rogan 43:00 Well, there's money in the UFC for guys like you.

Sean Strickland 43:02 Oh, yeah, 100% .

Joe Rogan 43:02 There's money in the UFC, but that's also in boxing. The UFC's better than boxing-

Sean Strickland 43:07 What, like-

Joe Rogan 43:07 ... when it comes to how undercard fighters get paid.

Sean Strickland 43:09 Yeah. Again, and this is... I- I'm a company man when it comes to UFC, you guys. Like most people, most people... Most guys, like even if they make fucking 80K a year, 90K a year, that's better than what we should've made. We're like, we, we're fucking los- I'm a fucking loser. But (clears throat) how do you fix it, man? I don't know. I don't think it needs to be fixed.

Joe Rogan 43:28 Well, it's better now than it's been before.

Sean Strickland 43:30 We at UFC... Let me just say, UFC has the most pay discrepancy. Like, when you're talking about, like, top earnings to lower earnings, I think UFC probably has the most dis- I- I'm- I think-

Joe Rogan 43:41 Boxing is worse.

Sean Strickland 43:42 Well, boxing's worse, but I mean-

Joe Rogan 43:44 Yeah.

Sean Strickland 43:44 ... we could say, "Let's exclude boxing." But like, there's way more money at the top and way less trickled down. But I don't give a fuck.

Joe Rogan 43:50 But it's so hard to get to the top. I mean, imagine-

Sean Strickland 43:52 (laughs) Yeah.

Joe Rogan 43:52 Ti- think, imagine just trying to explain to someone what you've done to become a top contender.

Sean Strickland 43:57 You only need to have one fuck-up, one slip-up, one mistake, two bad losses, an injury.

Joe Rogan 44:04 Yeah.

Sean Strickland 44:04 But here's the thing, dude. You guys, I'm not like... Even though we're, we're fucking whores, dude. We're prostitutes. And I'm not like... You know, I'm not like... I'm not saying it's a bad thing. We take our fucking clothes off and go fight a man. Like, come on, dude. What the fuck? (laughs)

Joe Rogan 44:17 But it's not, because-

Sean Strickland 44:19 It's like porn.

Joe Rogan 44:19 But it's also the ultimate form of entertainment for people that are watching.

Sean Strickland 44:22 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 44:22 There's nothing more exciting. But-

Sean Strickland 44:24 Oh, yeah. Good Fight Man, Gaethje versus, uh, Chandler. That one-

Joe Rogan 44:27 Your fight this weekend, when you started turning it on in the second round, I was at the fucking edge of my seat.

Sean Strickland 44:32 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 44:32 I was like, "He's got him."

Sean Strickland 44:33 Yeah. But like Ga- you know, Gaethje versus Chandler. That didn't... That was a f-

Joe Rogan 44:37 Oh my God.

Sean Strickland 44:37 That was front row in that one. (gags)

Joe Rogan 44:38 Insanity.

Sean Strickland 44:39 Fucking lost, shortened their life on that one.

Joe Rogan 44:41 Yeah.

Sean Strickland 44:41 But you know, but again, I'm not one of those guys bitching, complaining about pay. I get, I b- get paid good money. I shouldn't be here. I shouldn't be making what I'm fucking making in life. UFC gave me an opportunity, and you don't know how many, how many, how many oppor-... UFC is the common man's sport. Right now, fucking, you know, fucking Jamie, if he wanted to, he could train. It'd probably not gonna happen, but he could be in the UFC if he wanted to. Anybody could do it. You-

Joe Rogan 45:03 Yeah.

Sean Strickland 45:03 You let me restart my life and tell me to go be in the NFL, probably ain't gonna happen. Go be in the NBA, 100% not gonna happen. UFC is the common man's sport. Any- any person on this planet could wake up one day and be like, "I wanna be a UFC champion," and they could make it. Get, get it, get it done.

Joe Rogan 45:18 Mm-hmm.

Sean Strickland 45:18 Yeah. I mean, not that easy, but y- y- you know?

Joe Rogan 45:21 Right. I know what you're saying. Yeah.

Sean Strickland 45:23 Yeah, man. UFC's fucking great, dude. It's the best, best sport in the world and anybody can do it, so...

Joe Rogan 45:28 Well, it's, it's not for everybody, that's for sure. And for a guy to get as far as you've gotten, that's, it's the rarest of the rare.

Sean Strickland 45:35 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 45:35 I mean, just think about it. How many people are training? How many people have aspirations and then filter them all out to how many people get to headline, you know, a- a- a main event?

Sean Strickland 45:44 I- ideally, though, if I could, you know, if I could talk to a kid and they were to tell me they wanna be in the UFC, if I tell them, "Don't do it. Don't put your..."

Joe Rogan 45:49 Yeah, I would say that too.

Sean Strickland 45:50 It's so much... It's America. It's so e- so easy to make-

Joe Rogan 45:53 Unless you're fucking completely, fully obsessed.

Sean Strickland 45:56 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 45:56 I mean, un- unless that's what you wanna do, that's the thing you think about all day long. 'Cause if you don't, there's someone out there that does.

Sean Strickland 46:01 And there's a lot of UFC fighters, you guys, that suck. Like, there's a lot of motherfuckers that suck. Like, I- I mean, I get so... Extreme is like, extreme is like open doors, anybody can come, guys are in camp. There's some guys that are badass, but there's some UFC fighters, I'm like, "Dude, you fucking suck. How the fuck did you get here?" (laughs) Like how the fuck did... What short notice fight did you get? Like, (laughs) you are a sacrificial lamb.

Joe Rogan 46:24 Oh, there's definitely a few of those.

Sean Strickland 46:25 Oh, there's a lot of those in the UFC. A lot of those.

Joe Rogan 46:27 That's a weird one, this, the- the short notice fight against a top contender. Like, you see some of those every now and then and you're like, "Jesus."

Sean Strickland 46:34 Generally, that's how you get in the UFC, though.

Joe Rogan 46:36 Yeah.

Sean Strickland 46:36 You generally get in the UFC by... I mean, I think I took a two-week notice, a week notice on my first UFC fight. And that's why, if you're not in the UFC, you gotta stay ready. You gotta build, make way. You gotta stay fucking ready. But yeah, man. Greatest, greatest fucking sport in the world, dude. Fucking love the UFC. Hopefully I can fight Izzy, the, China's little slut.

Joe Rogan 46:54 (laughs) What is-

Sean Strickland 46:54 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 46:56 What is, uh, the- the status? Like, who is E-... So, right now, Whittaker is, uh, fighting this weekend against, uh, Dricus du Plessis.

Sean Strickland 47:04 Yeah, yeah.

Joe Rogan 47:05 And that will probably determine-

Sean Strickland 47:07 That will determine. But I mean, nobody want... I mean, fucking dude... How many times... Like, this'll be their third, fourth fight with Whittaker and Izzy.

Joe Rogan 47:12 Yeah, but the last one was so close.

Sean Strickland 47:14 Yeah, it's...

Joe Rogan 47:14 That's why it's interesting to people.

Sean Strickland 47:15 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 47:15 And you know, we'll see what happens with, uh, du Plessis-

Sean Strickland 47:18 But I think, I think they wanna fight on the, the Australian card. So we- we're in the works, I think. I think Izzy wants it. I think Izzy wants it. I think the management wants it, you know. So we're in the works. And fucking Izzy, man. I can't stand that fucking guy. You see that? He said-

Joe Rogan 47:30 I love that guy. How come you can't stand him?

Sean Strickland 47:31 Well, you gotta interview this guy, so you gotta be nice. Did you see that? Interview-

Joe Rogan 47:33 No, I love him.

Sean Strickland 47:34 You see that? Did you see that- that- that thing when he was like, "This is the color... You look at the color of my skin, you'd think I'm from Africa." Have you seen that?

Joe Rogan 47:42 No.

Sean Strickland 47:42 Oh my God, you gotta see it, dude. We- we- we gotta see it.

Joe Rogan 47:45 But he is from Africa.

Sean Strickland 47:46 I- well, no. There's more.

Joe Rogan 47:48 Oh.

Sean Strickland 47:48 "I am not Africa- I am Chinese."

Joe Rogan 47:51 What?

Sean Strickland 47:51 You've never seen that? Oh, man.

Joe Rogan 47:53 No.

Sean Strickland 47:53 You gotta wa- you gotta watch (laughs) you gotta... You guy- guys, if you, if you guys watch this, can you, on your time, pull up Izzy cringe? He says, and I quote, "You look at... You look at the color of my skin, you'd think I'm from Africa, but I am-"... from I am Chinese. Like, dude, that level of fucking sl- s- I played it, 'cause I do a little podcast with Mandance, with my buddy Chris Curtis. You know, I like to have a Black guy on my podcast, makes me look a little bit more wholesome.

Joe Rogan 48:19 (laughs)

Sean Strickland 48:20 And Kurt never seen it too. And I'm like, "Kurt, you know, as a Black man, let's, uh-"

Joe Rogan 48:24 Did he say this when he was fighting in China? Is that what it was?

Sean Strickland 48:26 When he was fighting in China.

Joe Rogan 48:26 Oh.

Sean Strickland 48:26 But, like, that level, like I always call him China's little slut.

Joe Rogan 48:30 Oh, geez.

Sean Strickland 48:30 'Cause, like, dude, I mean, have you... Could you picture... Like, here's the thing, you guys. We have all done things. We have all been a whore to somebody. We have all been friends with somebody we shouldn't have been friends with. We've all been buddies because maybe you could plug me to this, maybe he could give me a dollar. But, like, that level of fuckings being a slut, dude. Like, my God, how do you... And then, and then later on in life, they, they called him out for it. They called him out for it. He was like, "Because they're fucking paying me, that's why." And like, dude, and then it makes you even a bigger whore. Now you're like... Now you're getting defensive, like, "Oh yeah, no. I can't stand fucking..." And then he's like, the video of him jerking his dog off. You see that?

Joe Rogan 49:06 What?

Sean Strickland 49:07 Yeah. (laughs) How do you not watch it, bro? You're gonna hate-

Joe Rogan 49:09 I don't sit around watching people jerk their dogs off, ever.

Sean Strickland 49:12 You're gonna do... You're gonna, you're gonna hear-

Joe Rogan 49:13 If there's a video of you jerking your dog off, I wouldn't watch it.

Sean Strickland 49:15 Dude, there's a video of him, like, fucking jerking his dog off. I'm been fucking sure Jamie's seen it, man. That's just-

Joe Rogan 49:20 Jamie has not seen it. I can guarantee you. He would have told me about it.

Sean Strickland 49:23 I'm looking for this quote. I... It... Something... When I typed it in, it's bringing up stuff because he fought in China. He was saying something about that. Yeah, you can just type it. Yeah. It comes up as a Short, a YouTube Short. Like, Izzy's cringe moment. Oh. And there's also a video of him jerking off his dog and, like, dude, the guy is a fucking... Oh, man. The... And the fucking nail polish. And God, Izzy just fucking sucks, you guys. We need to bring back the old... Like, if... Anderson Silva, dude, come back. Come back, Anderson.

Joe Rogan 49:47 Uh.

Sean Strickland 49:47 Come back.

Joe Rogan 49:48 But you gotta admit, the dude is talented as fuck.

Sean Strickland 49:50 Oh, the dude could fucking fight, man. Yeah, I... People always say, like, "Why are you talking shit on Izzy?" Like, I never say the guy can't fight. I'm not standing here saying Izzy's not a champion. I'm not standing here saying Izzy might not be one of the best kickboxers in the world. I'm saying that Izzy is China's slut. If he was in prison, he would turn you out. He would turn you in. Like, he would sell you out. Like, like, there is not... The character of Izzy is so, so low. And this is coming from me, you guys. I just told you how fucking, you know, at least, less my mom and dad have sex while I thought she was gonna die. So this is coming from, like, I'm an expert on, like, shitty people.

Joe Rogan 50:24 (laughs)

Sean Strickland 50:24 Right? And Izzy, man. China's, China's... And then the thing with Dricus. Remember when he got all mad at Dricus? Because he... Dricus talked about being African?

Joe Rogan 50:32 Yeah.

Sean Strickland 50:33 Like, motherfucker, you aren't African, you are Chinese. Your words. Quote for quote. Dr- Dricus has lived in Africa his entire fucking life. He never woke up one day and says, "You know what? China's giving me money. I'm Chinese now." (laughs) You know?

Joe Rogan 50:46 Mm.

Sean Strickland 50:46 Just fucking... If I ever fight, if I ever fight, uh, if I ever fight Izzy, you guys, I'm gonna go get a little Chinese flag that says "slut" on it.

Joe Rogan 50:54 Oh, boy.

Sean Strickland 50:54 And I'll bring it to the weigh-in for you guys. And I'll, I'll hand him his little Chinese flag that says "slut," just for Izzy.

Joe Rogan 51:00 Do you think this is po-... D- is this... Talking shit about him like this, could this possibly fuck it up?

Sean Strickland 51:05 No. I mean, I, I fucking... I mean, I don't fucking know. I mean, wh- wouldn't you wanna g- hit the guy that, you know, says that you're a fucking... You jerk your dog off?

Joe Rogan 51:14 I don't know.

Sean Strickland 51:14 First of all, I didn't say he jerked his dog off, he jerked his dog off. I'm just qu-... I'm just reiterating what I've... The video.

Joe Rogan 51:20 Okay.

Sean Strickland 51:21 Yeah. Man, you gotta see this, bro. I'm gonna send you one-

Joe Rogan 51:23 I don't have to see it.

Sean Strickland 51:24 Oh, it's great. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 51:25 Don't ever wanna see a dog get jerked off.

Sean Strickland 51:26 I can already picture, I can already picture... So, Izzy, tell, tell me about your win. As you take a couple step backs and you're gonna be thinking about him jerking his dog off the whole fucking time.

Joe Rogan 51:35 That's why I don't wanna see it.

Sean Strickland 51:36 (laughs) But yeah, no. The guy's a great fighter. Fucking hands down, great fighter.

Joe Rogan 51:40 Elite. That, that win over Pereira.

Sean Strickland 51:42 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 51:42 That was fucking crazy.

Sean Strickland 51:43 But, you know, man, he's also genetically so advantaged. Like, if, if Izzy was a normal-sized motherfucker, I'd walk through him. The only reason why... I mean, the only reason why it'd be a tough fight is 'cause he's fucking, what, 6'4", 6'3", 80-plus inch reach?

Joe Rogan 51:56 Mm.

Sean Strickland 51:57 Well, nothing wrong with that, dude.

Joe Rogan 51:58 But also, super fucking talented. It's like you could beat... There's a lot of tall guys that just-

Sean Strickland 52:03 No, I mean-

Joe Rogan 52:03 You know?

Sean Strickland 52:03 ... not at that middle weight. There's not many guys with his stature.

Joe Rogan 52:06 How tall was, uh, Magomedov?

Sean Strickland 52:08 Magomedov? Uh, not even close. Magomedov had like a 76, 77-inch reach, 78-inch reach.

Joe Rogan 52:14 Mm.

Sean Strickland 52:14 I mean, we're talking about like NBA level-

Joe Rogan 52:16 Right.

Sean Strickland 52:16 ... 6'3". Like, getting past five, six inches of reach is a hard fucking thing to do.

Joe Rogan 52:22 Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Sean Strickland 52:22 Hard fucking thing to do.

Joe Rogan 52:23 Well, I was always... What is this? Culture and protocol? What is this?

Sean Strickland 52:27 Oh, no. You gotta do the... You gotta do the... Oh. It's... I don't... I... Ah. It's a Short, bro. Go back, I promise. Well, this one isn't short. This is a little longer, but- But it's on, like, the main. If you just click on, uh-

Narrator 52:36 Ni hao. Uh, I am the Black Dragon. (instrumental music) I was born in Nigeria, I grew up in New Zealand, but I have lived in China, so I've embraced the Chinese culture-

Sean Strickland 52:44 No, bro. This is-

Narrator 52:45 ... and I feel it is destiny. (instrumental music) My teacher, Sifu Ling Zhenshuan, came from China, and he has been teaching Chinese kung fu in New Zealand for almost 50 years.

Sean Strickland 53:00 No, you're giving this-

Narrator 53:01 I've known Sifu Ling since I was a teenager.

Sean Strickland 53:03 You're giving this man too much.

Joe Rogan 53:05 Okay.

Sean Strickland 53:05 Izzy, I am Chinese.

Narrator 53:08 What are you thinking? I'm a Black man?

Joe Rogan 53:10 Put it in the, uh, microphone so we can hear it.

Narrator 53:13 Come on. Please, look at my line. I mean, take a look at me. What are you thinking? I'm a Black man?

Sean Strickland 53:20 (snorting) (laughs)

Narrator 53:20 I'm not from Africa? Come on. Please, look at my line. Haven't you seen it yet? Wait a second.

Sean Strickland 53:29 Pulls the flag out. (laughs)

Narrator 53:31 Yes, I'm a Chinese.

Sean Strickland 53:34 (laughs)

Narrator 53:34 I have a Chinese heart.

Joe Rogan 53:35 He has a Chinese heart.

Sean Strickland 53:36 I... Yes, I am Chinese. I have a Chinese heart. But what I'm saying, dude, that level... Like, China's a little slut, you guys. That fight needs to happen, you guys. And I'll, and I'll do you one... I'll do you guys a favor. I'll bring a little Chinese flag and write "slut" on it just so-

Joe Rogan 53:47 (laughs)

Sean Strickland 53:47 Just so he could wave it like he did, like he did when he was getting money from, um... Oh, boy. Like, even me, I always joke about like, "But, dude, fuck China." Like, "Fuck China, dude." Oh, God. I'm gonna get kicked out of UFC now. Is that my phone going off? I should turn it off.

Joe Rogan 53:59 I think so. You're playing new videos.

Sean Strickland 54:02 Oh, shit.

Narrator 54:02 (...)

Joe Rogan 54:03 (laughs)

Sean Strickland 54:04 Oh, shit. We should, we should-

Joe Rogan 54:05 That's what you get for using an Android.

Sean Strickland 54:06 Yeah. Fuck, man. We're done.

Joe Rogan 54:07 Those fucking things just go off.

Sean Strickland 54:08 But yeah. No, man. Fucking China, dude. Like how do you even... Like, after the fucking, like... Fucking how do you even...

Joe Rogan 54:14 Well, this was a long time ago, wasn't it?

Sean Strickland 54:15 Yeah, I guess this was before, like, they were fucking-

Joe Rogan 54:18 Yeah, we weren't-

Sean Strickland 54:19 ... lo- lockin' Muslims up.

Joe Rogan 54:20 We didn't have this thought about Ch- like, I didn't even think about China 10 years ago.

Sean Strickland 54:24 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 54:24 China was just like, "Oh, they make stuff over there."

Sean Strickland 54:26 China's the fucking enemy, dude.

Joe Rogan 54:27 Well, it's-

Sean Strickland 54:27 It's funny.

Joe Rogan 54:28 It's-

Sean Strickland 54:28 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 54:29 ... it's a sketchy part of the world because they have an authoritarian government that controls all their corporations.

Sean Strickland 54:34 Yeah, fuckin' yeah.

Joe Rogan 54:34 And that's what America wants. They s-

Sean Strickland 54:36 And they want- they want the-

Joe Rogan 54:37 They see that and they go, they want that social credit c- score system.

Sean Strickland 54:40 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 54:40 They want the centralized digital currencies so they can control what you buy.

Sean Strickland 54:44 It's actually, uh, kinda funny, dude. Like, I, I talk so much shit on Muslims, guys. I can't help it. Like, I just talk shit on everybody. Like, like I talk shit on Jews, I talk shit on Christians, but at no point is a Jew coming up to me s- at no point, dude.

Joe Rogan 54:55 (laughs)

Sean Strickland 54:55 I talk shit on Jews all the time. At no point am I like opening my inbox and I'm seeing like a Palestine flag talking about fucking cutting my head off.

Joe Rogan 55:03 Hmm.

Sean Strickland 55:03 Muslims, all the fucking time. All the fucking time, dude. You sh- every time I fight a Muslim, dude, it's like, you guys should see my inbox, man. It's fucking-

Joe Rogan 55:10 Ugh.

Sean Strickland 55:10 It's fucking spooky, dude.

Joe Rogan 55:11 Do you read that stuff?

Sean Strickland 55:13 Oh, I'll skim through every blue moon just to laugh, you know? I mean, I carry a gun on me. I wa- I wanna kill a motherfucker, just, you know-

Joe Rogan 55:18 (laughs)

Sean Strickland 55:18 ... make my day motherfucker. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 55:21 Jesus Christ, Sean. (laughs)

Sean Strickland 55:22 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 55:22 Jesus Christ, Sean.

Sean Strickland 55:22 I mean-

Joe Rogan 55:22 The UFC is gonna have the hardest time taking clips out of this one.

Sean Strickland 55:26 (laughs)

Narrator 55:27 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 55:27 You know, 'cause sometimes they take clips out of like fighters' interviews and they, they make promos. This one, good fucking luck, kids.

Sean Strickland 55:32 Yeah, fuck man. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 55:33 All those guys working for the UFC, I salute you. You got a fucking-

Sean Strickland 55:36 Bro, they, they had to cut my-

Joe Rogan 55:37 ... mighty task.

Sean Strickland 55:37 They cut my last press conference. They like edited it out. I started talking about that girl that like, "Say my name," "I remember your name."

Joe Rogan 55:46 What are you talking about?

Sean Strickland 55:46 Remember the girl that died, dude? And like everybody fucking posted a fucking picture of her. Like, Dana-

Joe Rogan 55:52 No. But-

Sean Strickland 55:52 Oh my god, dude. This is your- aren't you like a fucking guy? This is your guy.

Joe Rogan 55:54 You're right. I'm just trying to remember what he said.

Sean Strickland 55:56 So, (clears throat) she died, amateur girl, really shitty amateur fighter. She died. The letter got put to Dana, and Dana posted her and says, "I know your name." 'Cause in the- in the journal diary, the let- the- the- the thing says, "I know your name."

Joe Rogan 56:10 Who is this girl?

Sean Strickland 56:12 Fa- Jamie-

Joe Rogan 56:12 Are you aware of this, Jamie? Oh, this is the girl-

Sean Strickland 56:15 No, no, that's not- that's not her. That's not her, dude. It- Dana White posted about it.

Joe Rogan 56:19 (clicks tongue) Oh, okay.

Sean Strickland 56:20 But anyways, so it's a bi- it was a big fucking thing and I kinda like went hard on the you- on the- on the Instagram and I got a lot of shit for it. So, (clears throat) someone, someone... Yeah?

Joe Rogan 56:32 How did she die?

Sean Strickland 56:33 Uh, I think car accident.

Joe Rogan 56:35 Oh.

Sean Strickland 56:36 But again, someone brought it up in the press conference and I just- you know me, like I'm like- I'm like a pseudo comedian. I'm not quite-

Joe Rogan 56:41 Right.

Sean Strickland 56:42 ... funny, but I'm there. I'm like, I'm almost there.

Joe Rogan 56:44 Yeah.

Sean Strickland 56:44 So every time I make a really good point, I gotta fucking ruin it.

Joe Rogan 56:47 (laughs)

Narrator 56:48 (laughs)

Sean Strickland 56:48 You know? It's like-

Joe Rogan 56:50 (laughs)

Sean Strickland 56:50 I gotta (laughs) I gotta fucking ruin it.

Joe Rogan 56:52 Oh, that's hilarious.

Sean Strickland 56:53 But again, I don't wanna like- I don't wanna be a fucking politician. I don't wanna be a philosopher. I'm a fucking comedian that hits people.

Joe Rogan 56:58 I get it. Yeah.

Sean Strickland 57:00 So like, you know, what Dana White did was fucking great, dude. Like I think that's awesome, man. He fucking, you know, someone showed him the journal and he's like, "You know, fucking, I'm Dana White. I sh- know your name. I w- you know, blah, blah, blah." But then you had these fucking bandwagon motherfuckers, dude. You had like Joaquin Buckley, just the little- the cringe lord he is. Joaquin Buckley, dude. That guy's Instagram is fucking rough, dude. I like Joaquin Buckley. I actually wanna hang out with him t- on Saturday.

Joe Rogan 57:24 I like him a lot.

Sean Strickland 57:25 I li- I'm gonna hang out with him on Saturday, but man, I- every time I see his Instagram it makes me wanna fucking fight him.

Joe Rogan 57:30 Fuck, man.

Sean Strickland 57:31 He's just a cringey motherfucker, dude. Hey, go look into Joaquin's Buckley, you'll know what I'm talking about. So, (clears throat) you know, that little fucking attention whore he is, little Buckley.

Joe Rogan 57:39 (laughs)

Sean Strickland 57:41 (laughs) Cool little kick.

Joe Rogan 57:42 Jesus Christ, Sean.

Sean Strickland 57:43 And the same fucking thing happened with Stephan Bonnar, bro. You got these fucking sluts, bro. You got these sluts that just like, they wanna be- they wanna be like different than th- so he posts a picture of her and like- and I'm like, "Oh, goddamn it, dude. Don't- don't do it, Sean. Don't bring this up. Don't bring this shit up."

Joe Rogan 57:58 Hmm. And you did.

Sean Strickland 57:59 And then I brought it up and I was like, "Guys, at the end of the day, dude, she's a hot, young, white woman. That's the only fucking reason why. And she's fucking trending. No one gives a fuck about her." Dana White, again, on- applaud to Dana White. She- that was a message directly to you. But all you other fighters hitting the repost button, this and that, you guys are just fucking fags. You literally guys are just doing it for attention. And what I said-

Joe Rogan 58:23 There's a lot of that.

Sean Strickland 58:24 What I said though-

Joe Rogan 58:24 There's a lot of things that people do with their virtue signal.

Sean Strickland 58:26 There was a Brazilian fighter. And hey, remind you guys, I'm a piece of shit. I mean, I'm just telling you how like I try to fucking kill my dad. I'm like, my- my brain doesn't work right. But this Brazilian fighter died not too long ago, he got hit by a bus. Uh, ex-UFC fighter. And my first- my first thought when someone told me I was like, "Oh fuck, man. He can't dodge a bus, he can't fucking (laughs) can't dodge a punch, right?"

Joe Rogan 58:46 (laughs)

Sean Strickland 58:46 That's why he's not in the UFC anymore. Mind you guys, I've been hit by a truck. I almost fucking died once. So, you know, it's like, you know, it's like I have a Black best friend here. Like I- I- (laughs) I've been there, you guys. Like (laughs) it was almost fucking happened to me.

Joe Rogan 58:58 (inhales deeply)

Sean Strickland 58:58 But that was my first response was like but why is this man not trending? This man probably left-

Joe Rogan 59:04 Right.

Sean Strickland 59:04 ... a family. He probably, you know, he left a life. He's not trending because he's a dirty fucking Brazilian and no one gives a fuck about him. If you were a hot, young, white woman, you motherfucker would be trending. You would be on ESPN.

Narrator 59:19 Mm.

Sean Strickland 59:19 Our beloved U- ex-UFC fighter died. And it's just like, man, we just live in this fake world. It's so fake.

Joe Rogan 59:26 But that is a problem with social media is that people have this opportunity to try to portray a version of themselves that might not be honest.

Sean Strickland 59:34 Oh, it's so fake. Or like when Stephan-

Joe Rogan 59:35 Yeah.

Sean Strickland 59:35 ... Stephan Bonnar died.

Joe Rogan 59:37 Yeah.

Sean Strickland 59:37 That motherfucker was gone, dude. I mean, I had a talk with Forrest, and Forrest even like- Forrest kinda reprimanded me about it. 'Cause you know, as of rightly so you guys, I'm an asshole. I say things that are way off the cusp. There might be like an ounce of truth to it, but 90% (laughs) of it's bullshit.

Joe Rogan 59:52 Right.

Sean Strickland 59:53 So, F- Stephan Bonnar added me on Instagram. I'm like, "Oh shit, Stephan Bonnar. I'm a fucking fanboy. I'm gonna fucking add him back." And then he would like post shit, send me messages and I block him right off the bat. I'm like, "You're fucking nuts, dude. You're a fucking pill addict. I want nothing to fucking do with you." Right?

Joe Rogan 1:00:08 What was he sending you messages about?

Sean Strickland 1:00:09 Just crazy mo- like he just like (sighs) he just like a liber- like he like- he's a libertarian dude, but like a lot of it just like, you know-Like, just fucking nuts, bro. Like, his gym closed down during COVID, nuts. But ... (sighs) And this is another thing I got shit on, and I was the only one that's like, "Fuck Stephan Bonnar, man. That guy was fucking nuts. He was a fucking drug addict. Like, I don't give a fuck about him. Like, I didn't go and fucking force the Oxys down his throat. I didn't fucking make him OD." So everybody got me shit on that, and they all posted about it. And I'm like, "Listen, I didn't like the guy and I blocked him, but where were you guys when his life was falling apart? Where were you guys when he was publicly saying, 'My gym is failing'? I- I can't, I can't, I can't keep the doors open. They're locking me out.' Where the fuck were you guys? You guys weren't fucking anywhere. You don't give a fuck about him. You never gave a fuck about him."

Joe Rogan 1:00:59 And then when he dies, this is an opportunity-

Sean Strickland 1:01:01 And then, and-

Joe Rogan 1:01:01 ... to say you miss him.

Sean Strickland 1:01:02 And I'm not saying ... I'm not gonna say names or anything, but I've had c- or f- ... Fuck, I can't remember who it was. But I've had conversations with people who ... They didn't joke about it, but it was like, "Yeah, that guy was fucking nuts," and yet they're posting something. It's just fake, dude. Like, just if you're gonna joke about his crazy ass dying and, like, him being a pill addict and you go and post about like, "Oh yeah, Stephan Bonnar, he was a great guy." Like, no, motherfucker, he was a fucking pill addict. You all knew. We all fucking knew. There were so many people involved in his life that could have stepped in and I don't think you should have.