With the former middleweight champion being the most outspoken fighter on the UFC roster, he is always making the headlines and more often than not, for the wrong reasons.
After losing the 185lb title in January, Sean Strickland has been non-stop calling for a title rematch against Dricus Du Plessis, and he bolstered his chances with a win over Paulo Costa this past June.
Strickland has made it clear that he will sit out and wait for the promotion to give him a title shot instead of taking another fight and risking his position.
Sean Strickland puts the UFC and Khamzat Chimaev on blast in frantic rant
Despite Strickland’s adamance that he is next in line to fight ‘Stillknocks’, Du Plessis’ head coach, Morne Visser recently admitted that he thinks their next opponent will be Robert Whittaker.
Not only that, but the South African confirmed that the champion will be fighting in February at the UFC’s rumored event in Sydney.
Before Whittaker is considered for another title shot, he must get past the feared Khamzat Chimaev first with the two scheduled to fight in a five-round co-main event at UFC 308.
With that, Strickland has gone on a frantic rant putting the UFC on blast as well as slamming ‘Borz’ in the process in the comment section of a post where Chimaev was crediting Alex Pereira for his recent win.
“I love how the world just overlooks this guy’s past… Builds a life in Sweden, goes and becomes best friends with an absolute monster who pretty much brought him like a W… then when the leash got too tight he fled to the Middle East… You should not be allowed in this country (America),” Strickland began to comment.
Chimaev’s momentum has been seriously halted over the past few years as he is unable to attain a visa to compete in America, meaning his fights have had to take place whenever the promotion has held an event in the Middle East.
“You (sold) your soul to a ter*orist dictator… You are not compatible with America… Thank god we don’t do drone strikes in that part of the sand pit… Sick of the UFC forgetting it’s an American company,” Strickland continued.
Dana White confirms Sean Strickland will fight for the title next
Although Du Plessis’ coach isn’t fond of the idea of Strickland being awarded a title shot off the back of a win over Costa, UFC CEO Dana White revealed this past Tuesday that ‘Tarzan’ will in fact be next.
Both the UFC and Du Plessis have made it clear that they wanted his next title defense to take place in South Africa to mark the UFC’s inaugural event in the region, however, White admitted that it isn’t likely as they have stumbled across obstacles.
“You know how bad I want this (UFC Africa), I’ve been trying to get this thing done, the arena situation there is tough, it’s tough to pull off so that’s been the challenge with Africa as a whole so I’m trying to figure it out,” White said at the DWCS post-fight press conference.
“The place we would have to do it at is outdoors and you know how I feel about that… Yes (Strickland is the next in line),” White finished.