Sean Strickland believes he has earned enough to be in line for his next middleweight title fight.
Dricus du Plessis will fight Israel Adesanya for the middleweight title at UFC 305 on August 17 in Perth, Australia. The winner of that bout will likely face either Strickland or Robert Whittaker, both of whom are coming off big wins.
Strickland qualified for the title bout with a split decision win over Paulo Costa at UFC 302 on June 1, while Whittaker won by first-round knockout over unranked prospect Ikram Aliskerov, who replaced Khamzat Chimaev at short notice at last weekend’s UFC on ABC 6. Many consider the Strickland-Whittaker fight to be the best way to determine the next legitimate title contender.
But Strickland believes he’s good enough to be next in line for a middleweight title fight against Whittaker. Strickland has already beaten Adesanya and claimed he was robbed of his win against du Plessis, while both Adesanya and du Plessis have impressive wins over Whittaker. The former champion would rather wait for another chance to win the title than face Whittaker.
“I’ve been asked multiple times to fight Whittaker,” Strickland wrote to X. “I beat Izzy and the world knows I beat Dorikus. Whittaker lost to both. I’m the #1 contender and easily defended it against Costa. I’m going to wait…”
I’ve been asked to fight Whittaker many times. I beat Izzy and the world knows I beat Dricus.
Whittaker lost both fights.
I am the number 1 contender and I easily defended that position against Costa.
wait…..
— Sean Strickland (@SStricklandMMA)
June 25, 2024
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