Strickland posts alleged Woodley DMs after threat over Din Thomas criticism

Sean Strickland escalated a public feud with Tyron Woodley this week by posting what he claims is a private direct message exchange in which the former UFC welterweight champion warned him to stop criticising coach and commentator Din Thomas.

The dispute stems from Thomas announcing his retirement from corner work on Saturday, a decision that drew widespread criticism for appearing to centre himself rather than support his fighter Gillian Robertson following her strawweight title fight loss to Mackenzie Dern at UFC 330. Thomas issued an apology on Monday, describing his own behaviour as “despicable.”

Strickland was among the fighters who publicly condemned Thomas, calling him “a shit coach” on social media. He then posted to Twitter claiming Woodley, a longtime friend of Thomas, had messaged him privately.

In the alleged exchange, Woodley wrote: “Watch your mouth talking about Din. You have no clue wtf you talking about. We laugh all the time when you have no filter, but you a habitual line crosser. I’m ride or die about him. Don’t cross that line.”

Strickland’s alleged reply was characteristically blunt: “Bro what are you gonna do?? You ain’t gonna do a damn thing lmao. Din can suck my cck. Weak ass btch.”

The UFC middleweight champion followed up by posting a screenshot of Woodley’s recent record, which shows seven consecutive losses across MMA and boxing dating back to 2019. Strickland captioned it: “Bro let the CTE get to him and forgot his record is a red line.”

Whether the exchange is genuine remains unverified. Woodley has not publicly addressed the alleged DMs on any of his social channels, though he did share Thomas’ apology via Instagram Stories.

Woodley is set to compete this Saturday in Cleveland, taking on UFC welterweight contender Joaquin Buckley in a wrestling match at RAF 12, marking his debut for the promotion.