Sean Strickland’s press conference at UFC Houston took an unexpected turn when organizers abruptly ended the session and muted his microphone after the former middleweight title challenger launched into an impassioned critique of his opponent’s coaching team.
Fresh off a TKO victory over Anthony “Fluffy” Hernandez, Strickland sat down for what appeared to be a standard media appearance. But when asked about his performance in the octagon he addressed his opponent’s coach.
“I noticed in the corner of my eye, Jim West that motherf***er’s looking at me. And I look at Jim West. You’ll see if you look at the match I like veer off. I’m looking at Jim West. I kept thinking there’s no way I’m going to let this f**king pred*tor beat me and have a victory over me,” Strickland stated.
West serves as the founder and head coach of MMA Gold, a Sacramento-area gym in El Dorado Hills, California that has produced several UFC athletes including Hernandez, Max Griffin, and Aspen Lad. Strickland’s issue centers on West’s relationship with former UFC star Aspen Ladd, who now trains at the facility.
“My motivation was thinking about like Jim West. I f**king hte that guy. Like, you know what’s crazy? Like, I love Fluffy. He’s a standup guy,” Strickland said, before directing a question to the assembled media.
“Is there anybody that’s 35 around here? Anybody know close to 35 years old? Can you picture being 35 years old and meeting a sweet little 14-year-old Aspen Ladd and saying, ‘I’m gonna marry her when she turns 18.’ That’s what f**king Jim West did.”
UFC officials quickly moved to end the press conference, with organizers declaring “that’s a wrap” as they cut Strickland’s audio feed.
The relationship between West and Ladd has been a topic of discussion within the MMA community for years. According to a deep dive:
Ladd was born in 1995 and in the interview she says she started training 5 year prior – making her 15 at the time she started training.
This claim is countered by one of Jim West’s own social media posts – claiming that he’s worked with Ladd as far back as 2011. Aspen herself says she’s been training since age 14 – but she never clarified at which point she met West.
She would’ve been 16 in 2011.
Conflicting accounts exist regarding the exact timeline of when Ladd started training under West. West has posted on social media suggesting he’s confirmed as having worked with her as early as 2011, when she would have been 16.
What remains undisputed is that West, now in his mid-40s, knew Ladd during her early teenage years.
UFC is currently employing West as a color commentator on one of their regional shows.
Similar issues have surfaced repeatedly in Brazilian jiu-jitsu circles, where the traditional hierarchy between instructor and student can create environments where problematic behavior goes unchallenged.
We recently covered the curious case of Gustavo Galvao, Andre Galvao’s brother. Gustavo Galvao is dating his competitor he met when she was just a teen. Andre Galvao has been forced to take a step back from his own gym and affiliation at Atos due to massive backlash after one of his teen competitors accused him of inapropriate behavior. Most of the biggest names in Atos have left the affiliation as a result of the incident. Galvao denies any wrong doing.
While many including Sean Strickland think that coaches dating their teen students is a huge problem in both BJJ and MMA some disagree. Gordon Ryan recently pointed to claims that this might be considered acceptable in Brazil in an attempt to rationalize behavior. But even he found issues with dating students you’ve been training since they were kids.
