Sean Strickland teases he’d be willing to depart the UFC for boxing if the promotion fails to supply him a direct rematch with Dricus du Plessis.
The ‘threat’ is the newest in a string of explosive posts shared by the previous middleweight champion since his UFC 297 principal event defeat back in January, as he called on the organization to book a rematch with the South African.
Strickland claims Canada threatened to tug him from UFC 297
The Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Canada, hosted the primary PPV event of 2024 and within the marquee fight, Sean Strickland lost his middleweight title in a razor-close split decision to Dricus du Plessis.
Yet the judges’ scorecards were by far the tip of the story, with Strickland calling out each du Plessis and the UFC on a seemingly every day occurrence since as he eyed a direct rematch against ‘Stillknocks’.
“You understand I don’t care about fight politics or a belt but it surely makes me laugh they offer izzy a rematch to alex after getting slept..I lost an in depth decision that dana himself thought I won. Everyone did.. The stats did. That should be run back,” he wrote on social media.
The truth is, Strickland would also claim that the Canadian authorities threatened to remove him from the cardboard, despite him arguably earning the largest cheers from the Toronto crowd during fight week.
Responding to 1 fan who said that no rematch offer ‘proves’ that he was robbed on the scorecards, ‘Tarzan’ said: “No man it’s a fact… Trust me… Canada absolutely hated me and threatened to tug me.”
Sean Strickland teases move to boxing if UFC doesn’t offer rematch
This week, Strickland doubled down on his demands for a direct rematch, calling for support from his fanbase as he suggests that ‘everybody knows’ that the best thing could be for the pair to run it back.
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“The UFC fans want me and Dricus to settle it. Dricus desires to settle it. Everyone knows I fought in a unclean liberal country who f**** me. Dana knows it. The UFC knows it. IF IT WAS ANYONE ELSE ON THE ROSTER THE REMATCH WOULD HAPPEN! Do the best thing UFC.”
Not wanting to fight down the rankings after such a meteoric rise in 2023, Strickland went so far as to suggest he’d be open to leaving the game if the rematch doesn’t materialize:
“You understand man I’m not climbing that f**** ladder again….. If that isn’t it for me idk boxing…”
Strickland is currently the #1 ranked middleweight within the UFC, although the allure of boxing continues to be there for the brash American given the potential opponents and purses involved.
“Yeah go make tens of millions beating up Jake Paul lmao,” he later shared.
Adesanya could skip Strickland for a title shot because of UFC 305 news
The ‘threat’ from Strickland comes on the back of two enormous pieces of stories for the middleweight division.
First, Robert Whittaker is ready to headline UFC Saudi Arabia against Khamzat Chimaev in what Dana White promoted as a number-one contender fight.
Second, the UFC confirmed their return to Perth, Australia, for UFC 305 on August 17, with many fans expecting former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya to return on that card.
Regarding the latter, the Latest Zealand Herald also reported via inside sources that the UFC is already exploring options for Dricus du Plessis to face Israel Adesanya in Perth – which would go away Strickland in limbo as he awaits his next opponent.
