Sean Strickland and Chris Curtis are known for going hard in their shared sparring sessions, but that wasn’t the case during the build-up to Curtis’ short-notice clash against Brendan Allen.
‘The Action Man’ wasn’t interested in taking any fights as he was hoping to spend time with his family following the recent birth of his second child. But when the UFC came calling for him to step in for the injured Marvin Vettori to face Allen, he jumped at the opportunity.
Chris Curtis had just three weeks to prepare for a five-round main event slot against ‘All In’. According to Sean Strickland, his friend and training partner wasn’t in the best shape heading into his fight this past Saturday, which led to Strickland using unconventional ideas to build Curtis’ confidence.
“UFC filmed Curt, I did one round of sparring with him and let him win,” Strickland said. “The camera crew [were] confused because they know me.”
“I said, ‘If I spar him remotely hard, he will lose all confidence going into this fight, he’s so out of shape. No excuses but [Brendan Allen should] take zero pride in this victory.”
UFC filmed Curt, I did one round of sparring with him and let him win
The camera crew was confused because they know me
I said "if I spar…
