Sean Strickland discloses "urge to kill somebody" while discussing the depths of PTSD and emotional turmoil

Sean Strickland recently opened up about how important professional fighting was for him and discussed how his traumatic childhood experiences caused him to have some seriously dark thoughts regularly.

'Tarzan' is one of the most controversial and polarizing personalities in mixed martial arts, thanks to his unfiltered and outspoken personality. The 32-year-old American is widely known for speaking his mind without fear of repercussion and rarely holds back from expressing his opinions on sensitive social issues.

While Strickland's personality undeniably raised his stock among UFC fans, he's also praised for being open about undergoing trauma as a child. 'Tarzan' has made no secret about growing up in a troubled and abusive home. He has also detailed how his parents' destructive influence on him shaped his personality.

During a recent appearance on Theo Von's This Past Weekend podcast, Strickland opened up about having sadistic thoughts due to childhood post-traumatic stress disorder. He stated:

"If it wasn't for fighting, bro, I'd be in jail. I truly have a deep-down urge to kill somebody. It doesn't go away. I don't know what it is... So when I train, it gives me the tools to process it... If you'd let me kill a man, I can't, but [I would be happy]."

Catch Sean Strickland's comments below (1:37:00):

---

Sean Strickland slams Dricus Du Plessis for "crossing a line" while trash-talking

In the same episode, Sean Strickland slammed Dricus Du Plessis for crossing some boundaries with his trash talk.

Du Plessis is set to challenge Strickland for the UFC middleweight title at UFC 297 on January 20 at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Canada. Ahead of their showdown, the two 185-pound juggernauts exchanged verbal shots at the UFC seasonal press conference in Las Vegas last month.

As their verbal warfare waged on, Du Plessis referenced Strickland's father abusing him as a child and threatened to dish out an even worse punishment in the cage when they came face to face.

Speaking to Von on his podcast, Strickland admitted that Du Plessis' words affected him deeply and lambasted 'Stillknocks' for crossing boundaries. He said:

"There’s some things that are off limits. You don’t really talk about a man’s wife, you don’t talk about a man’s kids, and you don’t about a kid being abused. These things are all off-limits... Dude, you have no idea. I'll f**king kill you."