The most concerning development that took place before Sean Strickland‘s rematch against Dricus du Plessis was the staph infection on his left shoulder. After a lackluster showcase in the headliner at UFC 312, where he was outclassed by the defending champion, some fans started believing in speculations that his abysmal dearth of initiative was a result of the infection. But is that so? One of Strickland’s training partners has come clean about this whole speculation during a recent interview.
#6 ranked 185fer Caio Borralho claims that Sean Strickland was well aware of his staph infection since the day it first appeared on his arm. As such, he took the necessary precautions, attending to it regularly and managing to prevent the infection from getting worse and eventually healing from it. The Brazilian doesn’t seem to believe that it was the infection that caused him to lose to Du Plessis in the way that he did.
“The only thing is that we saw the staph. It was covered and all that, but he said it was already dry. It was good with the UFC already,” Caio Borralho told ‘Submission Radio’. “He’s been taking a look at it already, you know. So, I don’t think it was [the reason for Strickland’s lackluster performance].”
However, Strickland’s sparring partner did mention one particular detail about treating his infection. The former champion was on medication, which included several antibiotic pills, and Borralho believes there is a possibility that the meds played a part in it. However, he still insisted that the use of medication doesn’t seem to be the real issue, given that he was pretty well prepared.
“Maybe, you know, two weeks of antibiotics before a big fight like that, for sure, makes a difference, you know,” ‘The Natural’ added. “But who knows? It was a little bit strange because Strickland was doing very good in the spar with me and everything. He had a good weight cut and all that, so he just underperformed.”
MMA: UFC 224- Zaleski dos Santos vs Strickland, May 12, 2018 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil Sean Strickland before a fight against Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos during UFC 224 at Jeunesse Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jason Silva-USA TODAY Sports, 12.05.2018 07:01:01, 10832675, MMA PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xJasonxSilvax 10832675
Meanwhile, Sean Strickland had something else to say contrary to what his sparring partner recently revealed. While Caio Borralho claims ‘Tarzan’ was pretty sharp in training, the former champion claims otherwise. Here’s what the verbose American had to say!
Sean Strickland ‘struggled’ during camp
In a statement following his lopsided loss, Sean Strickland broke his silence. However, he didn’t want to give any excuses for not walking the walk after promising to deliver a fight “to the death.” But he did mention that there was a slight issue in training and one thing he mentioned was getting his arm hurt while training with the recently signed Reinier de Ridder.
“This is not an excuse, but that entire camp was a struggle of, ‘I’m good,’ (but) knowing you’re not good,” Sean Strickland stated in a video he posted on social media. “I was training with (Reinier) de Ridder, the submission guy, and he hit me with a whizzer, and it was already broken, but dude, I thought my arm f—ing snapped.”
A few days after the fight, news broke that there’s been a change in Sean Strickland’s coaching staff as Xtreme Couture’s head coach, Eric Nicksick, sounded his displeasure with his protege’s performance. Moreover, ‘Tarzan’ has hinted that Nicksick may not be cornering him anymore in his future fights.
Hence, it remains to be seen what lies ahead for the former middleweight champion. What did you make of Strickland’s UFC 312 outing? Tell us in the comment section below!
The post “It Was Already Dry” – Sparring Partner Reveals Truth Behind Sean Strickland’s Staph Infection Before UFC 312 Dricus Du Plessis Fight appeared first on EssentiallySports.
