At least Sean Strickland knows he’s a fresh face in the Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight title picture.
Given a high-stakes, low-reward match in the UFC on ESPN 48’s main event, Strickland delivered in a big way, defeating Abusupiyan Magomedov via technical knockout in the second round on Saturday night at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. With back-to-back wins over Magomedov and Nassourdine Imavov in 2023, the 32-year-old has defended his case for the 185-pound title against Israel Adesanya.
“F-k, man. It has to happen, guys. We know Izzy’s on the hook, dude,” Strickland said in the post-fight press conference. “They’re trying to bring Abus in.” [in]. That’s what the UFC said, “Man, the middleweight division is stagnant. Let’s get Abus in here. He might beat Shawn. And I’m like, ‘Yeah, right, Mom and Kerr.’ Wait till you see what happens. Every time they try to bring in new blood,
[like] French [Imavov] I fought before, I sent him home. This guy, I sent him back. Every time they try to bring in new blood, I bring them back. Give me the f-king title. I earned it.”
“…Before that, I fought the other guy they were trying to do
[push]the last phenomenon they were trying to make [push]. I took this man on the king’s notice for three days. I took him in a war of five rounds and won every round in a king. I paid my dues. The King has paid my dues. give me this – t. “
As it currently stands, Adesanya is expected to face the winner of the Robert Whittaker-Dricus Du Plessis match at UFC 290 next weekend. While there is some tension between Adesanya and Du Plessis, Whittaker – who is 0-2 against the reigning champ – will be a big favorite in the match. Count Strickland is among those who believe Whitaker will prevail.
“I think Whitaker will walk through Dricos,” Strickland said in a separate ESPN+ interview after the fight. “Whitaker’s going to walk him through. We’ve seen Izzy fight everybody. We’ve seen Izzy fight all the big guys. Let’s get some fresh blood in there. Let’s throw some new meat at him. Maybe I’ve got something he doesn’t have. Maybe we’ll take him into deep water, and see what command.
“Give me the address [shot]. You know you want to see it. You don’t want to see Dracus fight Izzy.”