Sean Strickland apparently has his own definition of “take it easy.” That’s because just a day after getting banged up in a nasty vehicle crash going 60 miles an hour, the UFC middleweight champion was already back in the gym with all his cuts, scratches, and all.

Most people would probably call it a day and let the body recover. Strickland? He showed up wearing elbow pads, initially looking like he was just there to watch some sparring. But judging by how sweaty he was and how heavily he was breathing, ‘Tarzan’ didn’t exactly look like a guy who had been taking it easy. And even Strickland seemed to know he probably should have been doing anything but this.

“I should not be sparring right now,” Strickland said while looking toward the camera.

As he moved closer, the scratches and wounds across his shoulders were still clearly visible. Considering the crash had happened just a day earlier, seeing ‘Tarzan’ back in the gym looking like he had already gotten some work in was enough to make fight fans do a double take.

Just yesterday, Sean Strickland had opened up about how scary the accident actually was, revealing that he and his friend were traveling at around 60 mph when the vehicle rolled six times.

“You guys, I’m in a real bad place,” Strickland said in the video. “Oh f—. I let my buddy drive. He rolled us going like 60. We rolled like 6 times.”

‘Tarzan’ then gave fans a look at the damage, showing the injuries on his head and explaining how he ended up hitting the ground during the crash. Sean Strickland also showed off the scratches covering his shoulder and back, explaining that they came from repeatedly hitting the ground as the vehicle rolled.

“Oh f— dude. That was just from rolling and smacking the concrete or the dirt,” he added. “F— dude, I’m in a real bad place right now.”

And somehow, less than 24 hours later, the UFC middleweight champion was back at the gym. The decision sounds really bizarre when you remember what happened the last time Sean Strickland found himself in a serious crash.

For fight fans, seeing Sean Strickland back around the sparring mats so soon after this latest accident probably brought back some nasty memories of his 2018 motorcycle crash, an accident so bad it nearly ended his MMA career before it really got going.

Back in December 2018, ‘Tarzan’ was riding home from training when his bike slammed into a van. He was knocked unconscious for hours and suffered a horrific knee injury, with his patella separating from the rest of his knee.

He needed emergency surgery that same night, and what followed was a brutal, lengthy rehab. Sean Strickland ended up spending more than two years away from MMA before finally making his return to the Octagon in 2020.

That’s what makes his latest decision so damn surprising. The last time the champion was involved in a crash this serious, it took him years to get back to fighting. This time? He was already back around the sparring mats barely a day later.

That’s a pretty insane turnaround, especially considering what he went through the first time. The timing is equally wild, especially with a potential title fight already waiting for Sean Strickland later this year.

Nassourdine Imavov has already hinted that he expects to be next in line for the middleweight belt, telling fans that he knows the date of his next fight and that it will be for the title.

Reports have since pointed toward a potential Strickland vs. Imavov showdown at UFC 335 in Las Vegas on December 12. That makes the latest footage even more concerning for fans.

While the visible scratches are one thing, there’s no way of knowing from the footage whether ‘Tarzan’ suffered any other injuries in the crash. Getting back to intense training so quickly could also potentially complicate his reported title fight.

And fight fans certainly didn’t hold back when they saw him back in the gym barely a day after the accident.

Fans slam Sean Strickland for returning to sparring so soon after the massive crash

The reaction to Sean Strickland’s latest video was pretty much what you’d expect. Some fans were genuinely worried about him getting back to training so quickly, while others seemed to think the whole thing was peak ‘Tarzan.’

With the Imavov fight potentially just months away, some fans felt the middleweight champion was taking an unnecessary risk by getting back to intense training so soon after the crash.

“This clown is trying to injure himself before the fight with Imavov in December,” one fan wrote. Another predicted an even worse outcome for Strickland, writing, “Imavov will end his career and make him a streamer.”

“His arm is gone; let’s go rejoice, Imavov,” another fan joked.

Others were more concerned about the possibility of infection after Sean Strickland was seen training with visible wounds.

“Dumb a– @SStricklandMMA. You wanna get a nasty staph infection? Come on, man,” one person wrote.

A fan from Croatia shared a saying from their country to describe the situation: “We have a saying in Croatia that goes ‘Bog čuva budale’ which means God protects the idiots.”

Another fan somehow managed to turn Strickland’s self-awareness into a compliment. “At least he knows he’s an idiot, which makes him more intelligent than 90% of all the other idiots out there,” they wrote.

And, naturally, one fan kept things much simpler: “He’s a f—— cave man.”

Others, however, were less interested in criticizing the middleweight champion and more amused by the fact that he was somehow back in the gym almost immediately after the accident.

“You think he posts crazy takes on social media now? Wait until we get to 50-year-old CTE Strickland. Who am I kidding? We will be fighting for human survival against Terminator robots before we make it there,” one fan joked.

Another compared Sean Strickland’s decision to their own post-party gym routine: “How I feel going to the gym off a hangover.”

And perhaps the most fitting reaction simply read: “The most Sean Strickland thing.”

Whether Sean Strickland’s latest gym session was harmless or ends up causing another issue remains to be seen. But with a potential title fight against Nassourdine Imavov reportedly waiting for him, the last thing the middleweight champion needs is for injuries from the crash to turn into something more serious.

For now, though, ‘Tarzan’ appears to be doing what he does best: getting right back to work when most people would probably be taking a few days off.