"Kicked out of school for hate crime" - Sean Strickland talks why he never fit the "mold of a superstar" and what made him stop chasing it

Sean Strickland recently opened up about why he never wanted to chase stardom and all that comes with it.

The UFC middleweight champion has gained quite the reputation for being among the most self-aware fighters in MMA and for being unabashedly outspoken about his life experiences.

Strickland also doesn't mince his words and rarely shies away from speaking his mind. Unsurprisingly, 'Tarzan' has spoken at length about growing up in an abusive household in impoverished surroundings.

At the UFC 297 media day presser, Strickland spoke about his rise to fame as an MMA fighter and why he stopped putting on an artificial personality for the cameras. After he was asked why he had changed, Strickland replied:

"So, I came from being a white-trash, shaved head, kicked out of school for a hate crime... Whenever I got in front of a camera; you look at your peers, you look at the guys at the time who were the champs. They carry themselves so well, they wore f**king suits, and you're like, Man, I want to have money. I want to distance myself from who I was."

He continued:

"So I really tried to fit that image. I f**king hated it. Every time I wore a suit, I felt like a c*nt... It's honestly way more freeing not to have to try to fit the mold of a superstar. It's way f**king better."

Catch Sean Strickland's comments below (8:00):

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Sean Strickland on why he doesn't watch his opponents' tapes before a fight

Sean Strickland recently broke down why he doesn't study his opponents' moves before he steps into a cage with them. The reigning UFC middleweight champion stated that if he's booked against a fighter, he avoids watching his opponent's tapes due to the anxiety and self-doubt it causes him.

In a recent interview with ESPN MMA, Strickland explained his thought process while training for a fight and explained why studying tape isn't part of his preparations. He said:

"I don’t watch fights... Low self-esteem, you know. It just kind of builds up in me. I’m like, 'You f*****g suck! You’re a loser, you shouldn’t have won that fight!' So I just ignore it... I forget that I’m fighting. Like, I don’t even think about it. It’s just another day... I think about my weight cut... At the end of the day, it’s in the hands of God.”

Catch Sean Strickland's comments below (4:20):

Strickland is set to face Dricus du Plessis in a middleweight title fight at UFC 297 this weekend. The event will go down at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Canada.