Sean Strickland lauds Nina-Marie Daniele's nephew 'ankle pick' in latest win in a tough matchup

Sean Strickland and Nina-Marie Daniele both popped up in the comment section of an Instagram post made by a 17-year-old boy named Arath. As it turns out, he is actually Daniele's nephew, who recently competed in a no-gi jiu-jitsu tournament that he medaled in, finishing in second.

He took to his Instagram page to share highlights of one of his grappling matches, during which he can be seen executing an ankle pick off after a single-leg entry. This drew Strickland's attention, who wasted no time in congratulating the teenager on his efforts.

"Clean ankle pick"

This drew Arath's gratitude, who thanked the ex-UFC middleweight champion for his kind words.

"Thank you Sean!"

Naturally, Daniele expressed her support for her nephew as well, though she did not receive immediate gratitude from him.

"Let's goooo Arath!"

A screenshot of the above interaction can be seen below:

A screenshot of Sean Strickland and Nina-Marie Daniele's comments

At just 17 years old, Arath has plenty of time ahead of him to polish his grappling skills. Whether he devotes himself purely to Brazilian jiu-jitsu or ventures off into MMA may very well be a question that he will face moving forward given his affiliation to Daniele, who is one of the most popular UFC content creators online.

She has landed interviews with countless high-profile UFC fighters, including champions. Regardless, a clip of Ararth's second-place performance can be seen in his embedded Instagram post below.

Check out Arath's grappling highlights:

Strickland, meanwhile, is currently at a crossroads in his career. He is coming off a lopsided unanimous decision loss to Dricus du Plessis at UFC 312, failing to regain his middleweight title. He is now 1-2 in his last three fights, with both losses coming against the South African.

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Sean Strickland is Nina-Marie Daniele's most frequent collaborator

While most fighters who Nina-Marie Daniele interviews only do so once or twice, Sean Strickland has been a major fixture in her content for quite some time now. The pair have filmed numerous videos together and have even struck up a friendship, with Daniele turning up to his fights in support.

Check out Sean Strickland spending time with Nina-Marie Daniele:

In fact, the nature of their friendship has been questioned countless times by fans, with some speculating that there may be romantic undertones to their dynamic, especially given Strickland's vulgarity regarding women.