Maxx Crosby details sparring session with Sean Strickland
Los Vegas Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby is a massive MMA fan. The Pro-Bowler is often featured on UFC event broadcasts ranging from massive pay-per-view events to smaller UFC Apex shows. The 6-foot-5 athletic freak has used his talent inside of the octagon as well, most notably, he sparred with UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland.
Crosby explained that he sparred with Strickland as a part of his offseason workout on “The Pat McAfee Show.” All quotes via MMAFighting.
“Every year I try and find new things in the offseason to get better at,” Crosby said Tuesday on The Pat McAfee Show. “Sean Strickland, he’s the [UFC] middleweight champ now, we did three rounds of sparring and we beat the s*** out of each other, just testing myself in different ways. [I’m] not questioning, ‘Oh, am I going to be OK surviving situations?’ No, I’m going to go in 10 toes and see how it goes.”
This mindset is about as strong of a mentality as an athlete can have. It takes a special person to spar Strickland because they want to ensure they can survive different situations.
Crosby is not just stepping into the octagon and throwing hands. In the offseason, he implements boxing into his workout routine. This is because it helps improve hand quickness, distance management and cardio. All three of those skills help improve his pass rush. Clearly, it is working as Crosby has five and a half sacks through the first six games of the 2023 NFL Season.
Crosby’s sparring session with Strickland came together after NFL Films asked to video Crosby sparring. Well, Crosby gave them the best matchup they could have asked for.
“NFL Films calls and they say, ‘Hey, we want to get a behind the scenes of how you train, do you have anyone you can spar with?’,” he said. “I’m like, ‘Well, I know Sean Strickland and he’s my buddy, but he’s like notorious for being a horrible sparring partner because he goes in there and actually tries to knock people out.’ He’s like, ‘Oh, bet, I’ll show up.’
Not only did Crosby spar Strickland, but he fought him without a head guard or mouthpiece. That is about as crazy as it gets.
“We do this whole thing, have a whole camera crew in there, no mouthpiece, no head guard, nothing,” Crosby said. “We did three three-minute rounds and we were banging. My nose was messed up for two weeks straight, but we were cracking. I have all the footage and everything. It was a real fight, we were out there swinging.”
Obviously, Crosby had a tough fight on his hands. Strickland is an elite fighter who does not take sparring lightly. Still, Crosby put up a fight.
“Obviously he got the better of me, he’s a UFC world champion,” Crosby said. “I definitely landed some check hooks, I will say that, and the fact that I landed some, I gave him a little cut on his lip, I was proud of it.“
All that is left in this story is for NFL Films to release the sparring footage between Maxx Crosby and Sean Strickland. That is guaranteed entertainment.
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