UFC Star Tries to KO NFL’s Maxx Crosby in Sparring

Footage has emerged of former UFC Middleweight Champion Sean Strickland attempting to knock out one of the NFL’s biggest stars – and it’s so brutal it has gone viral.

Strickland showed off his impressive knockout power at UFC Houston last month with a third-round win over Anthony Hernandez. The American halted ‘Fluffy’ to put an end to his eight-fight winning streak.

The 35-year-old sits as the third-best ranked fighter at 185lbs and, despite stating in recent interviews that he isn’t expecting a shot at reigning middleweight champion Khamzat Chimaev any time soon, he still called for the fight in his post-fight press conference.

However, while Strickland attracted plenty of praise for his performance at UFC Houston, footage of him appearing to take liberties while training with a current NFL player has gone down less favourably.

Sean Strickland Tries to Knock Out Maxx Crosby in Sparring Session

Clips from the sparring session, which looks to have taken place several years ago, show Strickland mixing it up in the cage with Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby.

The five-time pro-bowler is one of the top defensive players in the NFL. He racked up 73 total tackles, 28 tackles for loss, and 10 sacks last season before missing the final two games of the year after being placed on injured reserve.

While ‘The Condor’ has a fearsome reputation on the field, he is not a trained fighter. As a result, it was shocking to see Strickland end their spar by trying to knock out the 28-year-old star. To his credit, Crosby took the three-punch combination well, but did look taken aback by Strickland’s intensity.

Rumours persist that Crosby could be traded by the Raiders before the end of the offseason, with the player reportedly becoming frustrated at playing for a team who were statistically the worst in the entire NFL last season.

Maxx Crosby Weighing Up Move Into MMA After Wrapping Up NFL Career

Although it is far from certain where Crosby will be playing football next year, he had made it clear that he would be interested in moving into MMA once his playing career in the NFL is over.

Speaking to CBS earlier this year, Crosby revealed that UFC boss Dana White has tried to convince him to get into fighting, sharing a conversation the two had and his mindset towards the idea.

“You know, it’s funny, Hunter Campbell and Dana (White), you know, they’re hilarious, and they’re fully convinced that by the year 2030 or 2031, I’m going to be the heavyweight champion, and I’m that type of person where I’m just never going to put a limit on what I do. I live one life and I definitely have certain things I want to accomplish and things I want to do, and, I’m never going to close the door on opportunity, so I truly don’t know,” Crosby admitted.

Crosby brought renewed attention to his MMA aspirations by reposting his spar with Strickland. With the footage doing the rounds on social media, Strickland took to X/Twitter to explain why he was sparring so hard, while recognising Maxx’s toughness.

‘Max was sending it [going all out] in the beginning…. But Max is a badass. The guy is an NFL superstar, dude gloves up for fun and spars for the love of the game. Max is the hardest NFL player hands down!”