UFC alum brings up the "problem" with Sean Strickland's "constant sparring," partially rules out brain damage

Sean Strickland's primary training methodology helps him in certain regards but also apparently hinders him in the eyes of a former UFC veteran. Many are curious to see if Sean Strickland can avenge his loss and regain the middleweight strap from the man who took it from him, Dricus du Plessis, on Sat. Feb. 8 in the UFC 312 headliner.

One of the most reliable action fighters in promotional history Matt Brown is among those who are intrigued by this bout and offered his expert viewpoint on some of this weekend's matchup machinations.

Speaking to Damon Martin of MMA Fighting for their program The Fighter vs. The Writer, Matt Brown described how he feels that the pressure-intensive approach in Strickland's stand-up game has not grown a great deal since the first DDP fight.

'The Immortal' feels that this lack of progression in the former champion's striking approach is tied to Strickland famously favouring a a hyper-focused sparring approach in his training. While getting into the specifics of the pros and cons of this methodology, Brown said:

"The problem with the constant sparring, a lot of people talk about the brain damage and stuff like that. I don't think that's nearly as big of a deal as people make it out to be. But you don't evolve quite as much. You're not compartmentalizing little skills and building... The advantage is he gets his timing very well... There's a lot of advantages but you don't evolve."

Check out Strickland showing his affinity for sparring fighters and fans alike below:

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When Sean Strickland sparred a NAVY Seal

As evidenced from the clip above, Sean Strickland is willing to spar a lot of different people and that includes a former NAVY Seal. This is a slight throwback being that it took place in 2024 with Strickland throwing down with a veteran who also happened to be a former MMA competitor by the name of Mitch Aguiar.

In a clip that went viral last July, the 33-year-old former titleholder at 185 pounds put it on Aguiar after the latter accepted an open invitation to spar. Strickland bludgeoned Aguiar primarily with leg kicks, body shots, and jabs which bloodied the nose of the NAVY Seal.

Despite Sean Strickland vocalizing it was his goal to make Aguiar quit, the veteran combatant stayed the course and the two seemed to have a mutual respect for one another once the dust settled.