Former UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland is sticking to his guns and has admitted he will continue to sit out and wait for a title shot, despite fan demand that he fights Robert Whittaker next.
After returning to the win column earlier this month at UFC 302 by beating Paulo Costa, Sean Strickland stated that he will sit out and wait to be given a title shot next, instead of taking another fight.
Despite that, fellow former middleweight champion, Robert Whittaker, also picked up an emphatic win this past weekend in the UFC Saudi Arabia main event, knocking out Ikram Aliskerov in the first round.
Strickland not interested in fight against Robert Whittaker
The current middleweight champion, Dricus Du Plessis, is scheduled to defend his title against Israel Adesanya on August 17, at UFC 305 and ‘The Reaper’ wants in on the date.
Following his win this past Saturday, Whittaker admitted that he would like to either be backup for the main event, or he wants a fight of his own on the same card.
With the 33-year-old having already beat several contenders in the 185lb division, there aren’t many options if he is looking for another fight. Whittaker’s original opponent for his main event in Saudi, was Khamzat Chimaev, but ‘Borz’ is now eyeing a return in Abu Dhabi, later this year.
That realistically, only leaves Sean Strickland, but ‘Tarzan’ isn’t interested in a potential fight against ‘The Reaper’.
“I keep getting asked to fight Whittaker. I beat Izzy, the world knows I beat Dricus. Whittaker lost to both. I am the number one contender, I defended that spot easily against Costa. I will wait,” Strickland explained on X.
However, because of the nature of his win over ‘Borrachinha’, Strickland may find himself underneath Whittaker in the pecking order, especially if the 33-year-old is willing to serve as backup at UFC 305.
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Robert Whittaker explains emergency surgery before UFC Saudi Arabia fight
Although it was Chimaev who withdrew from the originally scheduled main event, Whittaker’s manager revealed earlier this week that the former champion underwent emergency surgery just a few weeks out from the June 22 date.
Since then, ‘The Reaper’ has come out and explained the surgery he underwent, admitting the pain was 9.5/10.
“It wasn’t as bad as it sounds… it did hurt though. I had to get two root canals, I think two days before I flew out because I had a pretty bad infection in my jaw and yeah, I’d give it a 9.5 out of 10 on a pain scale, it’s terrible,” Whittaker explained to Main Event TV.
Despite Whittaker’s desire to serve as backup, or fight on UFC 305, his manager Titus Day has stated that they will discuss it in the coming weeks, after he has had meetings with doctors, and possible further surgery.
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