Don’t expect to see Sean Strickland fighting in the cage any time soon.
That’s because “Tarzan” recently flipped his lid and stormed the cage during a June 29th Tuff-N-Uff event in Las Vegas, punching Luis Hernandez after Hernandez beat his boy Miles Hunsinger (watch all the angles of that incident here).
While athletic commissions have gotten strangely chill when it comes to fighters getting into punch-ups and shoving matches outside the cage, the Nevada State Athletic Commission may actually throw
the book at Strickland. His fighter’s license was granted by Nevada, as was his corner license for Hunsinger vs. Hernandez. Storming into the cage and sucker punching a fighter that just won may be a bridge too far for them to tolerate.
https://t.co/2OUTU2t1ha pic.twitter.com/1G6besqsYK
— Alex Behunin (@AlexBehunin) June 29, 2025
Immediately following the incident, the NSAC suspended Strickland pending a disciplinary hearing set to go down at their monthly meeting. That was held yesterday, Wednesday July 23rd. But at that meeting they punted on Strickland’s situation until August, leaving the former UFC middleweight champion in limbo.
State athletic commission suspensions are recognized nation-wide and the UFC has almost always abided by them internationally as well. That means the promotion can’t book Strickland for a fight anywhere in the world until this issue is resolved.
What is the likely punishment? We can only look towards somewhat similar situations involving the NSAC.
Arman Tsarukyan was suspended by the NSAC for 9 months and fined $25,000 after punching a fan in the stands while walking out to his UFC 300 fight. Khabib Nurmagomedov was suspended 9 months and fined $500,000 for jumping the cage and attacking Conor McGregor’s corner at UFC 229.
A similar 9 month suspension would put Strickland out until April 2026, and it’s possible he could get a full year considering he was there as an official corner and punched a competing athlete.
Looks like we won’t be getting Strickland vs. Adesanya 2 any time soon.
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