UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland reportedly held a man at gunpoint in front of his house until police arrived.
In a post on Instagram, Strickland shared a video of a man stumbling between two vehicles that were parked on the UFC fighter’s driveway. Strickland can be seen holding the man at gunpoint and pushing him down onto the ground.
“Here’s what I know,” Strickland said in the post. “The guy was drunk stomping out a girl, a security guard seen it, he jumped in his car and drove off. Security followed him, hit a curb, completely shredded his tire, drove on the rim for awhile then jumped out and tried to hide at my house. I initially thought he was stealing my car. He was arrested.”
The story received mixed responses on social media, with many saying that Strickland could be at fault in the situation since the man was not an immediate threat to him.
“I guarantee you, Sean will be in trouble with the law on this one. That guy was not a deadly force threat. Sean Strickland is trained. This is not gonna go well for him in the legal system,” said one user on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter.
“Where is the guy trying to break into his house? This looks like a drunk guy stumbling around in his driveway. He certainly doesn’t seem dressed for the occasion. Do many burglars wear loafers?” wrote another.
“The guy stumbled in the beginning, letting us know he was probably drunk. Unfortunately after the guy dropped down to the ground the video goes to king roid. The guy didn’t appear to break into anything. This guy just has an intense anger issue,” another user responded.
Strickland has had a successful MMA career, with a record of 28-5 since his debut in 2008. The 32-year-old mixed martial artist is getting ready to defend his middleweight belt for the first time. He will compete against Dricus Du Plessis at the main event of UFC 297 on January 20 at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena.
He is also not the first UFC fighter to point a firearm at a suspected house invader; in 2020, UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones pursued an alleged car thief away from his residence while wielding a shotgun.
