Sean Strickland on never facing submission attempt: 'I've only fought men'
MORRISTOWN, N. J. – Not only has Sean Strickland never been submitted – no one has ever tried.
Strickland (30-7 MMA, 17-7 UFC) challenges middleweight champion Khamzat Chimaev (15-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) in Saturday's UFC 328 ( Paramount+ ) main event at Prudential Center in Newark, N. J. Six of Chimaev's professional wins have come by submission, where he's used his wrestling to take down the likes of Kevin Holland and Robert Whittaker, and quickly tap them out.
However, when going up against Strickland, Chimaev faces a fighter who's never had anyone succeed in even trying to submit him. "Maybe because I've only fought men – I don't know," Strickland told reporters, including MMA Junkie, at Wednesday's UFC 328 media day. "Submissions are f*cking gay.
I'm sad that I potentially have to deal with a guy who wants to dry hump my leg. But I'm also never really in a position for guys to do submissions. I don't want to go on my back.
I'm not into that sh*t. " Strickland was taken down six times in his title loss to Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 297, but the South African failed to get any submission attempts going. Strickland has also faced strong grapplers such as Kamaru Usman and Brendan Allen in the past.