Details of Sean Strickland's Neo Nazi past

UFC middleweight fighter Sean Strickland opened up about his neo-Nazi past in an interview with Ariel Helwani on the MMA Hour show a while ago. He shared disturbing details about his troubled youth and also talked about how martial arts saved his life.

The fighter revealed that his idolization of his father and grandfather forced him on to the path of neo-nazism. 'Tarzan' stated that his father used to return home drunk and break his toys on numerous occasions. These sorts of actions filled his younger self, who was still in grade school, with a hate mechanism. Strickland narrated a disturbing story about his father as he said:

There was a story where I remember I used to sleep in my mom’s room a lot because I thought he’d kill my mom; I thought I’d wake up with my mom dead. One day, I f*cking crawled underneath their bed and he f*cking gets on top of my mom — maybe it was just rough sex, who f*cking knows? — he gets on top of my mom and he’s strangling her saying, ‘Tonight’s the night you’re gonna f*cking die.’ I’m probably like in the third grade, I’m young. The only thing I see is a guitar, so I go and I grab the guitar and I f*cking just smack him in the head as hard as I can. I grab the phone, I run out, I call the cops and my mom — her dumb ass, she f*cking bailed him out of jail the next day. (h/t mmafighting.com)

Watch Strickland's most unfiltered moments:

Strickland's relationship with both of his parents has since attentuated. However, his relationship with his mother has now improved. The absence of a father figure meant that he looked up to his grandfather, a man with Nazi ideologies, as a hero.

A young Sean Strickland used to worship his grandfather and even drew swastikas in his hand while going to school. He didn't even know what those things meant.

Sean Strickland reveals how MMA saved his life

Strickland was kicked out of school in the ninth grade for conducting a hate crime. His mother took him to an MMA gym and 'Tarzan' revealed that the move changed his life forever. Here's what the current middleweight contender said about his first sparring experience:

"I remember crying after I got done sparring, Even when I think about it, it makes my eyes water. I don’t think I ever really experienced happiness until that day. You’ve got to understand, you live your whole life in a certain mindset, and then you do something and then you’re just like, ‘F*ck dude, this is what it feels like. This is what normal people experience. I f*cking love this.’" (h/t mmafighting.com)

Sean Strickland defeated Jack Hermansson in his last fight at UFC Fight Night 200. He is ranked No.4 in the middleweight division. The 31-year-old will look to secure a title shot for himself in the near future.

Watch Sean Strickland's octagon interview after his win against Jack Hermansson: