‘Pay the Bail or Go to Jail’: Sean Strickland’s Return to MMA After Being Arrested

ByTimothy Wheaton Aug 21, 2024

Sean Strickland Arrested

Sean Strickland has been around the block a couple of times. The former UFC champion tells a story about being arrested years ago in South Africa and needing to take a fight.

Sean Strickland Arrested in South Africa

While in South Africa, Sean Strickland was arrested by the police and needed to make some money fast to make bail. The fastest way to make money was to take a fight, but he was actually retired at this point.

In Durban, South Africa at a King of the Cage event in 2010, Strickland took a short-notice fight to make some quick money. This was only his fifth MMA match and he didn’t want to fight at all. But someone’s got to pay the bills. Speaking to ESPN MMA, Strickland explained:

“Funny enough, I actually got arrested and had just retired from fighting. I had to pay a bail bondsman, so it was either pay the bail or go to jail. If you need quick cash, what do you do? So, I went and fought this guy named Donavin Hawkey on two weeks’ notice in South Africa, just to pay the bondsman and stay out of jail.“

If it wasn’t for getting arrested, Sean Strickland would have stayed a retired fighter. He continued:

“That’s literally how I got back into MMA. I was bored, broke, living in gyms, and riding a bicycle like a loser at 19 years old. I thought I was done with this stuff, but then I got arrested. I was like, “Oh crap, well, I guess you have to pay the bail bondsman or go back to jail.”

Sean Strickland is a former UFC middleweight champion who was defeated by South Africa’s Dricus Du Plessis. Since coming off of a win against Paulo Costa, Strickland is looking for a rematch to avenge his loss and take back his world title.

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Dricus du Plessis Stats: UFC 305 Championship Breakdown

Dricus Du Plessis also faced Donavin Hawkey in his career. Both Strickland and Du Plessis defeated this South African fighter in the first round.

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Timothy Wheaton

Timothy Wheaton is a combat sports writer who covers MMA, Kickboxing, and Muay Thai. He has been an avid follower of these sports since 2005. Tim has even covered the UFC, GLORY Kickboxing, and Bellator in person at live events.

With Low Kick MMA, Tim has contributed interviews, articles, and podcasts.

Tim also works with a host of other media sites such as Calf Kick Sports, Sportskeeda MMA, MMA Sucka, Vecht Sport Info, Fighters First, and Beyond Kickboxing. Tim is is the authority on kickboxing and MMA journalist who has covered K-1, PRIDE FC, UFC, GLORY Kickboxing, Bellator, ONE Championship, and plenty more.