VIDEO | Sean Strickland meets UFC ‘legend’ Nick Diaz for the first time

Sean Strickland is one of the enigmatic fighters in the UFC right now. No stranger to controversy, he has plenty of fans and plenty of haters. The can be said of Nick Diaz.

Given their unique characters it was pretty cool to seem them cross paths for the first time recently.

Diaz and Strickland converged at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas. Strickland was in the cage when Diaz arrived, but paused his training to exchange a few words with a man he hailed as UFC “legend.”

Like most things these days, the interaction was caught on film. See it below (via Jake Shields).

UFC stars Sean Strickland and Nick Diaz cross paths

Nick Diaz and Sean Strickland meet for the first time 🤣🤣🤣

via @jakeshieldsajj pic.twitter.com/E0ewfFJGsl

— Dovy🔌 (@DovySimuMMA) January 16, 2026

Both Strickland and Diaz are known for their willingness to throw down at any time, but their interaction was completely cordial.

“I gotta get rolling with you, dude,” a seemingly star-struck Strickland said when he learned Diaz has moved to Las Vegas. “F**king legend over here guys. Crazy. That’s a f**king legend man. Crazy.”

Strickland and Diaz then a bit of banter about the latter’s age, with Strickland joking “I ain’t attacking you.”

“When I was a kid I used to watch you,” the middleweight said later. “I’d be in my f**king boxer shorts in the living room watching you scrap dog. It was dope.”

Diaz responded that now he watches Strickland in the UFC. It was a cool moment.

Strickland is currently gearing up for a high-stakes fight. He’s set to battle streaking contender Anthony Hernandez in the main event of UFC Houston on Feb. 21. The build up to the fight has already been interesting, to say the least.

Diaz, a former Strikeforce champ who twice fought for UFC gold, has not fought since a 2021 loss to Robbie Lawler. His next most recent fight was in 2015, when he fought Anderson Silva. The bout was ruled a no contest after Diaz tested positive for cannabis and Silva tested positive for several banned performance enhancers.