Morning Report: Chris Curtis explains feud, reconciliation with Sean Strickland: ‘I will f*cking cripple you’
Sean Strickland and Chris Curtis are on the same page again. For now.
Curtis is a longtime training partner of the former UFC middleweight champion Strickland—who has a chance to regain his title when he rematches Dricus du Plessis in the main event of UFC 312 on Feb. 8 in Sydney—with the two having been in each other’s training camps and corners for some of the biggest fights of their respective careers.
However, a rift formed between the fighters in 2024, which made it unclear if they would continue working together. According to Curtis, who fights Roman Kopylov at UFC Vegas 101 this Saturday, everything is copacetic ahead of their upcoming fights, though the inciting incident that nearly split them apart was as ugly as it gets.
“Understand that I’ve known Sean Strickland longer than most people,” Curtis said at UFC Vegas 101 media day on Wednesday (h/t MMA Junkie). “I’ve known Sean going on, like, 10 years now, so it’s always funny when people are like, ‘Forget it, get over it.’ You guys know the character of Sean. I’ve been in this for, like, 10 years now. And there are times where I’ve debated hitting him with a brick. Not even joking, I’m like, ‘Bro, I’m going to hit you with a f*cking brick. I don’t care where it goes.’
“This time led to a fistfight as well and we were really about to throw down and the entire gym was like, ‘Are you guys really doing this?’ We’re about to actually throw down. I’m threatening to cripple him before he fights Dricus, like, ‘I will f*cking cripple you.’
Curtis and Strickland’s relationship has always been a curious one given their vastly different personalities outside of the cage. While Curtis has become a well-liked elder statesmen known for his affable interviews, Strickland has frequently drawn attention to himself with hateful and offensive comments, that have led to criticism from media and fans, but also contributed to his growing popularity.
Putting all that aside, Curtis acknowledged how important it is to have Strickland sharing the cage with him at the gym with both men chasing important wins.
“So we get out of hand, but I’ve known Sean for a long time,” Curtis said. “We do have our own issues and there’s shit we’ll still need to discuss and talk about and kind of put everything up front, but right now this fight’s important to me. I can’t lose two in a row, I can’t. Especially after the last fights where I thought I had it. For my own mental well-being, it’s really hard to lose two in a row so I need to focus on this. And he’s going out there to fight for a UFC title and get his belt back. We don’t have time to focus on shit that’s not conducive to the goal.
“One of my favorite sayings ever, ‘Singularity and purpose.’ Everything we have to do right now is with the sole purpose of achieving this next goal, so we’ll get along fine. We’ll be fine for now, we figured it out, we’re kind of just moving past it. We’ll address it in the future. At the end of the day, I’m always going to be pulling for him. I want him to f*cking succeed.”
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The Miracle vs. T-City?
Ortega in London would be massive.
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FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Wang Cong (6-1) vs. Bruna Brasil (10-4-1); UFC 312, Feb. 8
FINAL THOUGHTS
We all have that friend who’s a habitual line stepper, don’t we? I hope none of you have ever got to the point where you felt you had to throw a brick at them or threaten to cause them serious injury.
And if you have, I really hope things worked out later. Go give someone a hug and never be too proud to say you’re sorry (unless the other person is being a real jerkwad, of course).
EXIT POLL
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