Sean Strickland has somehow escaped serious injury after the UFC middleweight champ was involved in a terrifying off-road accident that saw his vehicle roll an estimated six times at high speed.
Strickland revealed he was riding in an ATV driven by his friend Chris Cornell when they crashed while travelling at roughly 60mph – or almost 100km/h.
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The American was not wearing a helmet and said his head repeatedly struck the ground as the vehicle rolled.
“Guys, I’m in a real bad place,” Strickland said in a video posted to social media.
“I let my buddy drive. He rolled us going like 60. We rolled like six times.
“That was from my head smacking the ground going 60. I didn’t have a helmet on. I’m an idiot.
“That was just from rolling and smacking the concrete and the dirt. F***, I’m in a real bad place right now.”
Strickland showed followers grazes to his head, shoulder and back before suggesting he planned to lie down and “sleep it off”.
He later described himself as “a little concussed” but insisted he was otherwise OK – and, in typically defiant fashion, even claimed he planned to return to sparring the following day.
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“I got f***ed up, dude,” Strickland said.
“I hit the ground like six times, but I’m good, bro. I’m sparring tomorrow. I’m a little concussed.
“I was not driving. I was not in control of the vehicle. When we rolled, it wasn’t my fault.”
Cornell lost consciousness following the accident and was taken to hospital, with Strickland sharing an image of his injured friend receiving treatment.
The frightening incident comes as Strickland continues recovering from shoulder injuries suffered during his title victory over Khamzat Chimaev in May.
Strickland joked that the worst part would be explaining his latest shoulder complaint to staff at the UFC Performance Institute.
“Tomorrow, when I walk into the PI after sparring, I ask them to work on my shoulder and I tell them what happened,” he said.
“They’re going to look at me with utter disappointment, and I’ve got to explain to them that I wasn’t driving and it wasn’t my fault.”
Stricklan’s fighting career was almost ended by a motorcycle crash in 2018. That incident left him needing knee surgery and kept him out of the Octagon for almost two years.
AUSSIE EXPLAINS VIRAL SUBMISSION — AND FIERY MESSAGE
Australian flyweight Casey O’Neill has admitted she does not entirely remember producing the spectacular submission being hailed as one of the best of the year.
O’Neill scored a breathtaking first-round armbar victory over Eduarda Moura at UFC 331 in Los Angeles, forcing the Brazilian to tap at the 3:20 mark.
The finish quickly went viral as O’Neill somehow transformed a dangerous position into a lightning-fast armbar, snatching Moura’s arm while defending a submission attempt of her own.
Joe Rogan said he’d never seen anything like it in the Octagon.
“It kind of went a bit viral. I didn’t expect that,” O’Neill told The Ariel Helwani Show.
“In the moment, I didn’t realise what I’d even done. Honestly, I felt like I kind of blacked out.
“I’ve watched it quite a few times and I don’t remember even knowing that I was going for that.
“It just happened in the moment.”
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The drama did not end with Moura’s tap.
O’Neill immediately jumped to her feet, marched towards her beaten opponent and screamed in her face – an outburst she revealed was sparked by the Brazilian’s pre-fight trash talk on social media.
“At first I was like, ‘Woah’, and then I remembered all the s**t she’d been talking on Instagram, which is why I got up and screamed in her face,” O’Neill said.
Asked what she yelled, O’Neill revealed she delivered the message in Portuguese to ensure Moura understood every single word.
“I said, ‘Fala merda agora’, meaning, ‘Talk s**t now’,” O’Neill said.
“I kept telling her.
“She doesn’t speak much English, so I had to make sure she understood what I meant.”
JONES TAKES BLAME AFTER STEVESON BACKLASH
Meanwhile, UFC legend Jon Jones has taken responsibility for Gable Steveson’s controversial decision to leave the Octagon immediately after suffering a stunning 12-second knockout loss at UFC 331.
The bluechip heavyweight prospect was flattened by a Sean Sharaf left hand in the opening exchange of their fight, suffering his first pro MMA defeat after beginning his career with four straight first-round finishes.
Steveson then headed backstage before Bruce Buffer had announced the official result, prompting heavy criticism over his failure to remain in the cage and acknowledge Sharaf.
Jones, who helped prepare the Olympic wrestling gold medallist for his UFC career, has now revealed it was his decision to take Steveson backstage.
“I’ve seen some reports online and I really wanted to clear the air,” Jones wrote.
“It was my decision to take Gable straight to the back after the fight.
“Honestly, it was the first time in this situation for me and my instant reaction was to get my friend to the back to make sure he was OK.”
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Jones also backed the 26-year-old to rebound from the devastating loss.
“Gable’s work ethic and will to win is there and I stand by him and believe he will go on to be one of the best heavyweights in the UFC,” Jones said.
“He will be back. I’m sure of it.”