Sean Strickland on meeting Aspen Ladd’s coach Jim West after grooming accusations
UFC middleweight Sean Strickland has continued his claims against the coach of Aspen Ladd, Jim West, of grooming the fighter. This topic has been an ongoing theme from Strickland since earlier this year.
In April 2022, Strickland Tweeted:
“Sooooooooooo I’m pretty sure @TheAspenLadd is suffering from Stockholm syndrome…….. lmao!!!!!!!!I didn’t really care about the corner video but when you add some other facts to the situation it’s a little fucking creepy lmao!!!”
Shortly after, Strickland added:
“Women are very easy targets for male coaches, automatically assume weird father role which turns into a hero worship complex. The fact you started to train with him at what 12? 100 percent grooming sexual predator. Tell me my facts are wrong and I’ll apologize now. @TheAspenLadd.”
Sean Strickland has since been banned from Twitter.
Sean Strickland talks meeting with Jim West
These accusatory Tweets were from April of this year, Strickland now claims he has run into Ladd’s coach Jim West at the UFC Performance Institute. While speaking on Instagram, he said:
“Guys, the most awkward sh*t just happened to me. I’m leaving the PI, this guy walks up to me. He goes, ‘Hello Sean, my name is Jim West.’ I’m thinking, ‘Oh man, me and this dude are about to scrap in front of the PI.’ And I start getting excited. But then, he’s really f*cking cool to me, and I’m like, ‘Oh, well, now this is awkward because I thought we were gonna f*cking fight.“
The UFC middleweight added:
“So he comes up to me and is like, ‘Well Sean, I heard what you said, and I was a former detective.’ Like that means f*ck all anything, you shady b*astard. ‘I did not know Aspen Ladd until she was 18.’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, I know dude. I’m not gonna get into this, but it’s f*cking questionable and I’m still gonna talk sh*t.’” [Transcript Courtesy of MMA News]
Sean Strickland has doubts on this version of events, as he continues:
“Since I was reminded of the situation, Jim West, she was training at your gym at 14 or 15 years old, right. We can say this is true. And at some point, she turned 18 and this girl you had no idea existed, she turned 18 and you’re like, ‘You know what? Now I’m gonna put my penis in her and make her my girlfriend.’ Now, that sounds like grooming to me.”
See the full speech below from Sean Strickland:
In the UFC middleweight division, Sean Strickland has a record of 12-4. Most recently, he sustained a loss to the now top contender Alex Pereira. The US-born Sean Strickland has notable wins over Brendan Allen, Jack Hermansson, and Uriah Hall, among others.
