Roman Dolidze Believes Sean Strickland’s ‘Bad Child’ Behavior Led to His Father’s Harsh Treatment and Troubling Actions

Sean Strickland’s issues with being abused by his father are well documented. But, does it excuse the bigoted behavior he has often exhibited towards his opponents or the world? As it happens, his teammate and fellow middleweight fighter Roman Dolidze even confronted him about it some time ago. Dolidze believes that Strickland’s dad was abusive toward him because of the fighter’s own inadequacies.

During a conversation with MMA broadcaster, Helen Yee, the former UFC middleweight champion shared a shockingly personal talk he had with Dolidze. The conversation began lightheartedly as Strickland and his friends were chatting when Dolidze approached him and asked, “How do you think your dad would feel if he heard you talking like this?”

Struck by the cadence, Strickland exclaimed that his father was a “piece of sh*t” and was probably “looking up from hell.” However, Dolidze didn’t buy it as an excuse for the former champ’s incivility and claimed,

“Maybe your dad beat you so much, and drank so much, and did so much drugs because you were a bad child.”

Strickland laughed it off by joking that there was probably some truth to what Dolidze said but later clarified his behavior had nothing to do with how his father treated him.

The former champ’s childhood was far from easy. In past interviews, he’s spoken about the challenges of growing up with a father who was both abusive and an emotional void. The fighter even once broke into tears during an emotional conversation with Theo Von.

In a rare show of public vulnerability, Strickland revealed that his father used to be abusive towards his mom and threatened to hurt her with acid and k*ll her. Strickland was a child during the timeline of this story, which resulted in him not being able to focus at school and facing further humiliation from his teachers.

It’s clear that Strickland’s father’s actions, ranging from physical abuse to addiction, were deeply impactful, and his blunt responses today are often shaped by those painful memories.

This is probably why despite his many personal remarks about them, almost none of his opponents have ever touched on his childhood during fight promotions; ‘almost’ being the keyword here.

When DDP ‘touched a nerve’

In the lead-up to his defense of the middleweight title at UFC 297, Strickland was at his usual worst, making homophobic and misogynist remarks at everyone and everything in the vicinity. However, when he decided to take a nasty shot at Dricus Du Plessis’ relationship with his coach during the pre-UFC 297 presser, the South African decided he had had enough.

DDP let Strickland know that the beating his dad used to administer on him would not rank anywhere close to what he would face inside the octagon. Strickland looked visibly taken aback by the remarks and threatened to take Du Plessis’ soul. DDP laughed it off claiming that he had touched a nerve.

“You think your dad beat the s*** out of you? Your dad doesn’t have s*** on me … every childhood memory you have is going to come back when I’m in there with you.”

A day later during UFC 296, he tried to follow through on the threat. Both Strickland DDP were in the audience. But the South African kept chirping away at him. At some point, Strickland lost his absolute mind and jumped seats to throw a few shots at DDP before being pulled off.

The feud would culminate in probably one of the best fighters of Strickland’s career, however it would be one he would go on to lose. Du Plessis would end up winning their middleweight title fight by a split decision.

The pair will now fight in a title rematch at UFC 312 on 9 February.