"A former neo-Nazi?" - Sean Strickland's past leaves Israel Adesanya in utter shock ahead of UFC 293

Israel Adesanya is known for doing in-depth research about his opponents before a fight, but certain things about Sean Strickland eluded 'The Last Stylebender' as well.

Strickland is known for not only having particularly radical ideologies but also stating them out loud for MMA fans to pick apart. Some of his more controversial takes are comparing fighters with adult entertainment stars and getting rid of women from the global workforce, among others.

He self-admittedly went through a "weird neo-Nazi, white supremacist phase" when he was younger and got expelled from school for hate crimes, as per what he told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour in 2021.

However, Israel Adesanya was not aware of this piece of information about Sean Strickland.

Brendan Bradford of CodeSport reported that the UFC middleweight champion was left his mouth agape and eyes widened after finding it out.

"He’s a what? A former Nazi?!!? No way."

He went on to call out to his manager, Tim Simpson, to confirm the news.

"Tim! Did you know Sean was a former neo-Nazi? I had no idea. I’ll do some deep diving on him because this is breaking news... Wow…he’s gonna loooove me, then. Wooo, is he gonna love me."

When asked about Strickland's relentless attempts at riling Adesanya up, referring to his time spent in China, the Kiwi-Nigerian asserted that it was a show for the cameras. Strickland does not act that way when he is around, the titleholder claimed.

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Sean Strickland on his neo-Nazi past that shocked Israel Adesanya

During The MMA Hour [age-restricted] interview where he admitted to having neo-Nazi ideals as a youngster, Sean Strickland made some more revelations about his past and the darkness that engulfed it.

He shared disturbing details of a traumatizing youth with an emotionally abusive father, to whom he once offered a gun so that he could end his life.

"For me, I was just really f*cking angry. I was so angry, I actually went through this weird neo-Nazi, white supremacist phase when I was younger, and I got kicked out of school for, like, hate crimes, all this crazy sh*t."

Sean Strickland blamed his racist grandfather for pushing him down the path of ultra-radical ideologies:

"My grandfather was this big piece of sh*t. When you’re a kid, you don’t see that, you hero-worship him. My grandfather was, like, 6-foot-7 ... he just kind of filled your head with crazy sh*t. Because you’re in seventh grade, spouting off Nazi [ideas] — you don’t f*cking know that. You don’t even know what the f*ck that means."

He also detailed severe actions of domestic abuse committed by his father on his mother and him as well. Strickland's father eventually passed away of cancer, but even the last conversation between them was strained with a dark undertone.