"Looking like an absolute animal" - Sean Strickland's shredded fight week physique has fans awestruck

Sean Strickland appears to be in phenomenal physical condition as he is gearing up to fight Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 297.

The reigning UFC middleweight champion is preparing to defend his title against Du Plessis in the headline bout of the first pay-per-view of 2024, set to take place this weekend at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Canada.

The 32-year-old's longtime head coach, Eric Nicksick, recently shared a group photo of his colleagues from the Xtreme Couture gym on Instagram. Notably, the photo included Strickland, displaying what seems to be his peak physical condition.

Check out the photo below:

Fans responded to Strickland's chiseled physique with an array of reactions.

One fan wrote:

"DDP is a dead man walking."

Another wrote:

"Crank the sharpness up more brotha, I can almost see smoothness"

Check out some more reactions below:

"Holy crap Sean is in shape"

"Sean is clearly keeping the belt"

"Holy moly… did Sean sign with Costa’s secret juice company?😭 how is this man as ripped as he was during his welterweight days? DDP is in danger."

"Sean looking like an absolute animal"

"Champ looking ready 💪🏽😱🇺🇸🐐🤯"

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Daniel Cormier breaks down Sean Strickland's overlooked skill

Daniel Cormier recently highlighted a less acknowledged aspect of Sean Strickland's strengths.

In a recent episode of DC & RC, the former UFC two-division champion delved into a facet of Strickland that is often undervalued:

"I think that we, as a sport, overlooked how mentally tough Sean Strickland is. Because we talk about all of the things from the past, some of the absurd things he might say, but the moment he gets into the octagon stays in the course."

He added:

"He was talking about Israel Adesanya and dogs and all kinds of crazy stuff in the build-up to the last fight. They stepped into the octagon, and he looked like he had no issue with Izzy; he was there to do a job, and he was going to do it in the best way possible. I think that what's most overlooked about Sean Strickland is that regardless of the emotional outbursts that he may have in the build-up to these fights when he's in there, he fights with a game plan."

Check out Daniel Cormier's comments below (22:38):

'Tarzan' pulled off a significant upset against Israel Adesanya, claiming the middleweight championship at UFC 293 last September. Despite widespread expectations of 'The Last Stylebender' dominating, the 32-year-old Californian outpointed Adesanya for the entire five rounds, ultimately securing a unanimous decision victory.