Sean Strickland praises Kayla Harrison's grappling skills in new post-training video

Sean Strickland, the newly minted two-time UFC middleweight champion, took part in a recent training session with UFC women's bantamweight champion Kayla Harrison. In a departure from the negative comments he usually aims at women's MMA, Strickland praised Harrison's grappling skills with a shocking admission in a post-training clip that's been making the rounds on social media.

Sean Strickland speaks highly of Kayla Harrison

After capturing the UFC middleweight title, for the second time, in a historic upset over Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 328, Sean Strickland dove back into training. To sharpen his grappling skills, he worked with two-time Olympic judo champion and reigning UFC women's bantamweight champion Kayla Harrison. In a clip that's gaining traction on X, Strickland made a stunning revelation regarding how many times Harrison submitted him on the mat:

"Hey, guys, she tapped me out like 20 times. She did some Japanese throw I can't pronounce because I'm American, not a f***ing Communist."

Check out the clip below:

Sean Strickland says Kayla Harrison tapped him 20 times 😂

“Kayla tapped me out like 20 times. She pulled out some Japanese throw or whatever, but I'm American, so I can't pronounce that shit. I'm not a damn commie." pic.twitter.com/bC002lcXBl

— Dovy🔌 (@DovySimuMMA) June 30, 2026

Strickland is coming off one of the biggest wins of his career, as he became the first fighter to hand Chimaev a professional loss. While his split-decision win was shocking to many, Strickland himself isn't new to upsets. At UFC 293, for example, he authored his first massive upset by dethroning Israel Adesanya as middleweight champion in a relatively comfortable unanimous decision win. What Strickland has yet to accomplish though is a successful UFC middleweight title defense.

Harrison is also a newly-minted champion, as she captured the UFC women's bantamweight title at UFC 316 by submitting Julianna Peña in round two. It was a dominant win that marked her fourth consecutive victory. Now, she is gearing up to face arguably the greatest women's fighter of all time in Amanda Nunes, who is returning from a three-year layoff. The bout was originally scheduled for UFC 324, but Harrison withdrew after requiring surgery for herniated discs in her neck.

A win over Nunes woud immortalize Harrison as one of the greatest fighters of all time, and would elevate her overall legacy in combat sports. Unfortunately, she is unlikely to remain a fixture at women's bantamweight for long, as she previously mentioned plans to retire following her fight with Nunes, as the cut to 135 pounds is too grueling.