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Footage has emerged of UFC middleweight contender Sean Strickland and American football defensive end Habakkuk Baldonado sparring.
Baldonado, a 23-year-old who was born in Italy but moved to Florida in 2017, currently plays for the Pittsburgh Panthers, the intercollegiate football team of the University of Pittsburgh.
Last month, the defensive end declared for the 2023 NFL Draft, which will take place in April and mark the 88th annual meeting of National Football League franchises to choose newly eligible players for their rosters.
While he’s no doubt hard at work on the field, which was evident as he impressed scouts at this year’s East-West Shrine Game last week, Baldonado isn’t sticking to the confines of his sport as he looks to develop as an athlete.
That was on display in a recent Instagram post from UFC fighter Strickland, who uploaded a video of him and the NFL hopeful sparring in a cage at the UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas.
“Be a strong man!!!!” Strickland wrote in the caption. “Good luck in the draft!!! Get that money. Next time we will pad up.”
During the relatively hard spar, the always eccentric Strickland can be heard imploring Baldonado to hit him on multiple occasions.
Perhaps down the line, the 23-year-old can join the likes of Brock Lesnar and Eryk Anders in the club of former American footballers who have transitioned to mixed martial arts.
Strickland Often Hits The Headlines For His Sparring
While Baldonado enjoyed a light-hearted exchange with Strickland, that’s not always the case when the #7-ranked UFC middleweight spars…
Perhaps most notably, Strickland came under fire early last year when footage emerged of him knocking out a sparring partner with a head kick. Amongst those who’ve criticized “Tarzan” for his approach to training is former champion Israel Adesanya.
In a video uploaded to his YouTube channel, “The Last Stylebender” slammed Strickland’s conduct in the gym, branding him a “rotten apple” who does more damage in training than he does inside the Octagon.
“Sean Strickland, he’s a bad mother*cker. Like, literally bad, (a) rotten apple,” Adesanya said. “His standup, I’ve seen him do more damage on YouTube in sparring than in his fights, put it that way. I’ve seen his sparring footage and I’d never spar with an idiot like that. I’ve hurt people in sparring before and I’m like, ‘Oh sh*t, my bad,’ and I’ll pull back… But I’ve seen what he does, and he talks sh*t… He’s got many screws loose.
“Whatever floats your boat, yes. But like, it’s funny to say coming from our sport, but I don’t like to hurt people, even though that’s our job. I like to make sure they’re able to come back the next day to do their work,” Adesanya added. “And also, to give me work, because you need your teammates.”
The year before, Strickland was seen in a bust-up with the late Orlando Sanchez. During their exchange, the UFC middleweight threw a kick at the Brazilian jiu-jitsu legend after taking issue with an apparent wrenching of his arm in the clinch.
What do you make of the footage showing Sean Strickland sparring NFL Draft prospect Habakkuk Baldonado?
Footage has emerged of UFC middleweight contender Sean Strickland and American football defensive end Habakkuk Baldonado sparring.
Baldonado, a 23-year-old who was born in Italy but moved to Florida in 2017, currently plays for the Pittsburgh Panthers, the intercollegiate football team of the University of Pittsburgh.
Last month, the defensive end declared for the 2023 NFL Draft, which will take place in April and mark the 88th annual meeting of National Football League franchises to choose newly eligible players for their rosters.
While he’s no doubt hard at work on the field, which was evident as he impressed scouts at this year’s East-West Shrine Game last week, Baldonado isn’t sticking to the confines of his sport as he looks to develop as an athlete.
That was on display in a recent Instagram post from UFC fighter Strickland, who uploaded a video of him and the NFL hopeful sparring in a cage at the UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas.
“Be a strong man!!!!” Strickland wrote in the caption. “Good luck in the draft!!! Get that money. Next time we will pad up.”
During the relatively hard spar, the always eccentric Strickland can be heard imploring Baldonado to hit him on multiple occasions.
Perhaps down the line, the 23-year-old can join the likes of Brock Lesnar and Eryk Anders in the club of former American footballers who have transitioned to mixed martial arts.
[/quote]
Strickland Often Hits The Headlines For His Sparring
While Baldonado enjoyed a light-hearted exchange with Strickland, that’s not always the case when the #7-ranked UFC middleweight spars…
Perhaps most notably, Strickland came under fire early last year when footage emerged of him knocking out a sparring partner with a head kick. Amongst those who’ve criticized “Tarzan” for his approach to training is former champion Israel Adesanya.
In a video uploaded to his YouTube channel, “The Last Stylebender” slammed Strickland’s conduct in the gym, branding him a “rotten apple” who does more damage in training than he does inside the Octagon.
“Sean Strickland, he’s a bad mother*cker. Like, literally bad, (a) rotten apple,” Adesanya said. “His standup, I’ve seen him do more damage on YouTube in sparring than in his fights, put it that way. I’ve seen his sparring footage and I’d never spar with an idiot like that. I’ve hurt people in sparring before and I’m like, ‘Oh sh*t, my bad,’ and I’ll pull back… But I’ve seen what he does, and he talks sh*t… He’s got many screws loose.
[/quote]
“Whatever floats your boat, yes. But like, it’s funny to say coming from our sport, but I don’t like to hurt people, even though that’s our job. I like to make sure they’re able to come back the next day to do their work,” Adesanya added. “And also, to give me work, because you need your teammates.”
The year before, Strickland was seen in a bust-up with the late Orlando Sanchez. During their exchange, the UFC middleweight threw a kick at the Brazilian jiu-jitsu legend after taking issue with an apparent wrenching of his arm in the clinch.
What do you make of the footage showing Sean Strickland sparring NFL Draft prospect Habakkuk Baldonado?
Click here to view the article.
Baldonado, a 23-year-old who was born in Italy but moved to Florida in 2017, currently plays for the Pittsburgh Panthers, the intercollegiate football team of the University of Pittsburgh.
Last month, the defensive end declared for the 2023 NFL Draft, which will take place in April and mark the 88th annual meeting of National Football League franchises to choose newly eligible players for their rosters.
While he’s no doubt hard at work on the field, which was evident as he impressed scouts at this year’s East-West Shrine Game last week, Baldonado isn’t sticking to the confines of his sport as he looks to develop as an athlete.
That was on display in a recent Instagram post from UFC fighter Strickland, who uploaded a video of him and the NFL hopeful sparring in a cage at the UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas.
“Be a strong man!!!!” Strickland wrote in the caption. “Good luck in the draft!!! Get that money. Next time we will pad up.”
During the relatively hard spar, the always eccentric Strickland can be heard imploring Baldonado to hit him on multiple occasions.
Perhaps down the line, the 23-year-old can join the likes of Brock Lesnar and Eryk Anders in the club of former American footballers who have transitioned to mixed martial arts.
Strickland Often Hits The Headlines For His Sparring
While Baldonado enjoyed a light-hearted exchange with Strickland, that’s not always the case when the #7-ranked UFC middleweight spars…
Perhaps most notably, Strickland came under fire early last year when footage emerged of him knocking out a sparring partner with a head kick. Amongst those who’ve criticized “Tarzan” for his approach to training is former champion Israel Adesanya.
In a video uploaded to his YouTube channel, “The Last Stylebender” slammed Strickland’s conduct in the gym, branding him a “rotten apple” who does more damage in training than he does inside the Octagon.
“Sean Strickland, he’s a bad mother*cker. Like, literally bad, (a) rotten apple,” Adesanya said. “His standup, I’ve seen him do more damage on YouTube in sparring than in his fights, put it that way. I’ve seen his sparring footage and I’d never spar with an idiot like that. I’ve hurt people in sparring before and I’m like, ‘Oh sh*t, my bad,’ and I’ll pull back… But I’ve seen what he does, and he talks sh*t… He’s got many screws loose.
“Whatever floats your boat, yes. But like, it’s funny to say coming from our sport, but I don’t like to hurt people, even though that’s our job. I like to make sure they’re able to come back the next day to do their work,” Adesanya added. “And also, to give me work, because you need your teammates.”
The year before, Strickland was seen in a bust-up with the late Orlando Sanchez. During their exchange, the UFC middleweight threw a kick at the Brazilian jiu-jitsu legend after taking issue with an apparent wrenching of his arm in the clinch.
What do you make of the footage showing Sean Strickland sparring NFL Draft prospect Habakkuk Baldonado?
Baldonado, a 23-year-old who was born in Italy but moved to Florida in 2017, currently plays for the Pittsburgh Panthers, the intercollegiate football team of the University of Pittsburgh.
Last month, the defensive end declared for the 2023 NFL Draft, which will take place in April and mark the 88th annual meeting of National Football League franchises to choose newly eligible players for their rosters.
While he’s no doubt hard at work on the field, which was evident as he impressed scouts at this year’s East-West Shrine Game last week, Baldonado isn’t sticking to the confines of his sport as he looks to develop as an athlete.
That was on display in a recent Instagram post from UFC fighter Strickland, who uploaded a video of him and the NFL hopeful sparring in a cage at the UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas.
“Be a strong man!!!!” Strickland wrote in the caption. “Good luck in the draft!!! Get that money. Next time we will pad up.”
During the relatively hard spar, the always eccentric Strickland can be heard imploring Baldonado to hit him on multiple occasions.
Perhaps down the line, the 23-year-old can join the likes of Brock Lesnar and Eryk Anders in the club of former American footballers who have transitioned to mixed martial arts.
[/quote]
Strickland Often Hits The Headlines For His Sparring
While Baldonado enjoyed a light-hearted exchange with Strickland, that’s not always the case when the #7-ranked UFC middleweight spars…
Perhaps most notably, Strickland came under fire early last year when footage emerged of him knocking out a sparring partner with a head kick. Amongst those who’ve criticized “Tarzan” for his approach to training is former champion Israel Adesanya.
In a video uploaded to his YouTube channel, “The Last Stylebender” slammed Strickland’s conduct in the gym, branding him a “rotten apple” who does more damage in training than he does inside the Octagon.
“Sean Strickland, he’s a bad mother*cker. Like, literally bad, (a) rotten apple,” Adesanya said. “His standup, I’ve seen him do more damage on YouTube in sparring than in his fights, put it that way. I’ve seen his sparring footage and I’d never spar with an idiot like that. I’ve hurt people in sparring before and I’m like, ‘Oh sh*t, my bad,’ and I’ll pull back… But I’ve seen what he does, and he talks sh*t… He’s got many screws loose.
[/quote]
“Whatever floats your boat, yes. But like, it’s funny to say coming from our sport, but I don’t like to hurt people, even though that’s our job. I like to make sure they’re able to come back the next day to do their work,” Adesanya added. “And also, to give me work, because you need your teammates.”
The year before, Strickland was seen in a bust-up with the late Orlando Sanchez. During their exchange, the UFC middleweight threw a kick at the Brazilian jiu-jitsu legend after taking issue with an apparent wrenching of his arm in the clinch.
What do you make of the footage showing Sean Strickland sparring NFL Draft prospect Habakkuk Baldonado?
Click here to view the article.
