Recent footage has surfaced of an altercation during training that occurred between former ADCC World Champion Orlando Sanchez and current top-ranked UFC Middleweight Sean Strickland. The two were filmed engaging in grappling training in an octagon when Sanchez slapped on a quick armbar-esque pressure as Strickland held onto an underhook. Famously, it’s the same motion that Jon Jones used to great effect against Glover Teixeira in his Light-Heavyweight title-defense that severely hampered the use of Teixeira’s arm for the rest of the fight.
From there, Strickland immediately hit Sanchez and even kicked him in the stomach as the grappler looked genuinely confused as to why Strickland was so angry about what he described as ‘a quick little submission’. Strickland explains that he sees the technique as being dirty, and he believed that Sanchez was actively trying to hurt him. They do continue for a brief moment, only for Strickland to stop as a result of pain in the arm that the technique was applied to.
Sanchez is a phenomenal grappling talent and the super-heavyweight has competed at the ADCC world championships several times over the years, with his crowning achievement coming in 2015 when he came out on top of the 99kg+ division. Strickland is much more of a striker in the octagon, with his last submission victory coming back in 2014. He’s currently riding a four-fight win-streak and will be looking to break into the top ten in his upcoming fight against Uriah Hall at UFC 265.
The video footage of the altercation between Orlando Sanchez and Sean Strickland was originally uploaded by the official Facebook account of Big Boy / Strength Cartel, the same famous weightlifter who recently filmed a friendly grappling match between himself and UFC Lightweight and Welterweight veteran Nate Diaz:
