Two losses to current UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis haven’t stopped one former fighter from placing Sean Strickland at the highest of the pile.
Strickland could have a detailed eye on proceedings at UFC 319 on August 16, as the following fight for the title he once held takes place within the foremost event.
Du Plessis will face the challenge of Khamzat Chimaev, because the South African becomes the most recent to attempt to blemish the still-perfect record of ‘Borz’ — and the Chechen hopes to be the primary to beat ‘Stillknocks’ within the UFC.
But despite Du Plessis beating Israel Adesanya and Strickland to successfully defend his title and Chimaev running through Robert Whittaker to secure his shot, a UFC analyst surprisingly doesn’t think the person able to being the world’s best middleweight might be in motion on August 16.
Din Thomas says Sean Strickland has what it takes to be one of the best on the planet
During a recent appearance on former two-division UFC champion Daniel Cormier’s YouTube channel, ex-fighter Din Thomas made a daring claim concerning the middleweight division.
Thomas left ‘DC’ shocked as he claimed that Strickland, who held the title for just five months before losing a split decision to Du Plessis, has the tools to be the world’s best at 185 kilos.
“The stories you hear about Sean Strickland from every high-level guy that I do know that has ever worked with him said that he’s one of the best guy within the room,” Thomas said.
“I imagine that he could possibly be one of the best 185-pound fighter on the planet straight away if he put his energy into actually fighting in the massive fights.
“If he put the identical amount of energy that he does on fighting YouTubers and having beef with other people, if he put that energy into fighting the highest contenders in the massive fights, he could be winning,” Thomas added.
Strickland was beaten more decisively in his rematch against Du Plessis this past February.
Sean Strickland may very well be set for a high-profile rematch next
While the champion and his next challenger gear up for his or her August showdown in Chicago, Strickland just isn’t currently booked for his return to motion.
But that doesn’t mean the previous champ is without options. Actually, he has a really high-profile one.
During a video on his YouTube channel featuring David Goggins earlier this 12 months, Adesanya called Strickland out for a rematch of their UFC 293 headliner, which featured ‘Tarzan’ memorably upsetting the Nigerian-Recent Zealander to win the title.
“I told Hunter (Campbell) already,” Adesanya said. “I told my coach here, it’s time. I do know who, I actually have a sense who I wanna fight.
“You’ll like this one. I can get some get-back: Sean Strickland. … He beat me fair and square in Sydney, five nil. Just whooped my ass badly.
“I’m doing things different,” Adesanya added. “I don’t wanna make excuses because he beat me. But then I just wanna show him if he beat me at my best. So, this time I’m gonna are available in and proper.”
It stays to be seen whether the UFC will support that booking, especially after probably the most recent update saw Adesanya claim Strickland has remained silent after the callout.