Sean Strickland discussed the possibility of being the next UFC middleweight title contender.
On July 8, Dricus Du Plessis made a statement at UFC 290 by taking out former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker. Shortly after his hand was raised, Du Plessis faced off with Israel Adesanya, leading to an intense verbal altercation.
Du Plessis was expected to be Adesanya’s opponent for the UFC 293 main event on September 9 in Sydney, Australia. Unfortunately, the reigning middleweight king recently announced ‘Stillknocks’ likely won’t be ready for the quick turnaround.
As a result, Strickland is rumored to be capitalizing on the opportunity. He had this to say about the situation during an interview with Helen Yee:
“As much as I don’t think Dricus [Du Plessis] is that good, I think Izzy [Adesanya] beats Dricus. I understand Dricus. Dricus, I understand you. It is very natural just to fight, which I just fought like a week before you, and then to be like, hey, wanna fly across the world to go fight a guy on seven weeks’ notice? It is very natural to say I might not want to do that, but I’m a f*cking man… If you pay me, I have a price. If you pay me money, I’ll fight him right here.”
Strickland fought the week before Du Plessis, defeating Abus Magomedov with a second-round TKO. Meanwhile, Adesanya last fought on April 8 against Alex Pereira, when he regained the UFC middleweight title with a second-round knockout.
Dickless DuPussay. pic.twitter.com/UQwRF2a5tU
— Israel Adesanya (@stylebender) July 20, 2023
Sean Strickland advocates for himself to fight Israel Adesanya instead of Dricus Du Plessis
Sean Strickland is not confirmed to be fighting Israel Adesanya at UFC 293. With that said, he is arguably the best option if Dricus Du Plessis isn’t available. During the same interview with Helen Yee, Strickland advocated for why he should get the opportunity by saying:
“We’re in talks. It just comes down to just f*cking pay me. Here’s the thing, let me ask you this. Do we really want to watch Dricus [Du Plessis] and Izzy [Adesanya] fight? No, we don’t wanna watch Dricus and Izzy fight. You want to watch me fight. Am I gonna win? I don’t know, but I’m gonna go in there, I’m gonna punch that f*cking Chinese motherf*cker right in the face.”
Now that Alex Pereira has moved up to light heavyweight, Strickland and Du Plessis are the only options for the next middleweight title shot. Luckily, Adesanya doesn’t have a problem with that situation, as he isn’t a fan of either contender.
