UFC star Sean Strickland is slammed by fans after beating on US Navy Seal in controversial sparring video: ‘This guy is such a trash person’ | HO

UFC middleweight contender Sean Strickland was slammed for a viral video of him beating up an apparent former Navy Seal in sparring.

The Navy Seal veteran, named Mitch, stepped into a cage with the former UFC middleweight champion and suffered a beating for 25 minutes.

Strickland was seen peppering Mitch with punches and knocking him down with leg kicks as he grasped for air. While some comments debated the legitimacy of his Navy Seal training, others were quick to slam Strickland for ‘picking on’ a civilian.

‘This guy is such a trash person,’ one user wrote.

‘Is this how you show our military respect?’ another added.

Fans slammed Sean Strickland after a video of him beating up an ex Navy Seal went viral

A third user stated: ‘You would think an uneducated redneck would appreciate the military.’

Meanwhile, a fourth suggested: ‘Now let’s see Sean Strickland fight in the navy for 25 minutes.’

‘Sean beats up everybody except UFC fighters LOL,’ a fifth quipped.

Strickland previously challenged former Navy Seal Jason Pike – who claimed he could injure an MMA fighter in a street fight. However, his callouts on social media garnered no response.

Strickland continued to call out Navy Seals in a video saying: ‘I don’t think there’s one f****** Navy Seal who could survive a week of training with me.’

The former UFC middleweight champion’s sparring video sparked an outrage on social media

Despite the one-sided beating, Strickland showed his respect to Mitch. After ‘Tarzan’ said: ‘I don’t wanna knock you out, I wanna make you quit,’ his bloodied sparring partner made it to the final buzzer.

‘Navy Seals, I stand corrected,’ Strickland tells the camera. ‘You have my respect, you did not quit.’

‘I had no delusions of winning this fight,’ Mitch said after the session. ‘Sean’s the man.’

Strickland holds a 29-6 MMA record and is 16-6 in the UFC. In his last three outings, he won the UFC middleweight strap from Israel Adesanya, dropped it to reigning champion Dricus Du Plessis, and bounced back in a title eliminator against Paulo Costa.

With his unique striking technique, Strickland holds a 29-6 MMA record and is 16-6 in the UFC

Strickland won the UFC middleweight strap against Israel Adesanya at UFC 293 in September

Strickland lost the title to Dricus Du Plessis in January before beating Paulo Costa in June

He is currently ranked as the No 1 contender in the 185-lb division.

Before facing Mitch, Strickland sparred former K-1 super lightweight champion Rukiya Anpo during a trip to Japan. In February, he also put a beating on social media creator Sneako.

‘Challenge accepted and I lost,’ Strickland captioned the video on X. ‘Mitch was a solid guy. Actually one of the real ones. Joe Rogan needs this man on his podcast. he’s one of us.’