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Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight champion Sean Strickland is content to take a break until he gets a chance to fight for the belt, but that doesn't mean he's sitting around doing nothing.
Strickland recently went on vacation to Japan. During his time in the Land of the Rising Sun, he received an invitation to spar with former K-1 super lightweight champion Rukiya Ambo. Although Ambo is a much lighter weight (he primarily fights at 70 kilograms, or 154 pounds), he agreed to fight Strickland, who is known for his penchant for gym battles.
The two met and did the fighting! The video above shows highlights from their sparring session. It was clearly more of a full-on fistfight than a technical session. The two fought for five rounds, with Ampo having great success early on with explosive combinations and body punches. However, this was tiring boxing, and Strickland's combination of size and pressure wore down “The Demolition Man” by the second half of the bout. Their round ended with Strickland launching an attack on his tired opponent.
“Getting brain damage on vacation is awesome lol,” Strickland wrote on social media about the training session, while another praised Ampo for being “super tough.”
Meanwhile, Ampo posted photos of the two together after the fight, showing off his bruises. Ampo has been invited to come train with Strickland in Las Vegas, but he may not be keen. “The worst loss of my life,” Ampo wrote in one post (via Google Translate).
Will Strickland bring the same aggression to his next UFC fight? His last fight against Paulo Costa was a solid win, but not as impactful as the video above.
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I've been asked to fight Whittaker many times. I beat Izzy and the world knows I beat Dricus.
Whittaker lost both fights.
I am the number 1 contender and I easily defended that position against Costa.
wait…..
— Sean Strickland (@SStricklandMMA) June 25, 2024
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— Red Corner MMA (@RedCorner_MMA) June 24, 2024
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Sleep tight, enthusiasts! The martial arts madness is about to continue.
