Former middleweight champion Sean Strickland believes he should be higher on the list of UFC’s most handsome fighters.
The controversial brawler is one of the most infamous fighters in the sport and is known for his outlandish antics and press conference outbursts. Yesterday’s UFC 302 pre-fight media day was no different, with the American putting the world to rights in a lengthy session.
Strickland lost his belt last time out at UFC 297 in January when Dricus Du Plessis took a razor close split decision in Toronto. He begins his climb back to the belt on Saturday night against the similarly notorious Paulo Costa.
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Sean Strickland rages as he ranks behind Conor McGregor on UFC ‘most handsome fighter’ list
During yesterday’s pre-fight day with the media, fighters were made aware of their positions on a recent AI experiment run by Freebets.com that listed the best looking men in the UFC. Top of the list was Conor McGregor, while Costa landed at number two.
Strickland was listed at number four, and joked that for him to rank so high he must be competing with some unattractive rivals. When he was told he was not top, the former champion said: “F*** you, man. No s***, there must be some ugly motherf***ers.
But he was enraged when he was told that McGregor had landed ahead of him and Costa to land the top spot. “No that f***ing little leprechaun, dude?” he replied. “That motherf***er looks like he’s putting his head under f***ing urinals, no f***ing way.”
Paulo Costa believes he should have ranked higher on ‘most handsome fighter’ list
As for Costa, the Brazilian reckons he should have come in ahead of McGregor after previously branding himself the ‘BLF’, or ‘best looking fighter’. The former title contender claims to have modelled before his UFC career took off, and is infamous for his physique which he credits to ‘secret juice’.
Asked about his ranking on the list, Costa replied: “I’m happy because I beat Sean Strickland. But I’m the ‘BLF’, the best looking fighter ever. What’s going on? I think this AI is not so good, you paid for this properly?”

When he was made aware that McGregor had pipped him to the top spot, Costa laughed off the idea and said: “No, definitely not. Not against him! I’m latin, beautiful.”
He was also able to get a shot in at one of his long-term rivals Khamzat Chimaev, who was ranked at number 13. Costa believes such a low placement was still too high for the Swede, joking that “he’s out of the list, come on he’s the last.”
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