NEWARK, N.J. – Sean Strickland is dead set on his next fight being a UFC middleweight championship bout, and nothing else will do.
Following a split decision over Paulo Costa on Saturday, Strickland (29-6 MMA, 16-6 UFC) said he thinks he’s done more than enough to get a shot at gold. Strickland, who defeated Costa (14-4 MMA, 6-4 UFC) in the co-main event of UFC 302, plans to sit out and wait while the UFC arranges Dricus du Plessis’ first title defense – which is expected to be against Israel Adesanya.
“I’m going to wait,” Strickland told reporters at the UFC 302 post-fight press conference. “I f*cking paid my f*cking dues. I got robbed in dirty f*cking Canada (at UFC 297). I got robbed there. We all know I got f*kcing robbed, so I’m going to sit on my ass in the gym, and I’m going to be a team player, and I’m going to f*cking wait.
“I’m going to f*cking wait until they say, ‘Sean, go beat this f*cking man.'”
Currently, there’s a middleweight booking between Robert Whittaker and Khamzat Chimaev at the end of the month that’s been labeled by the promotion as a title eliminator bout.
It’s uncertain how things will shake out in the title picture at 185 pounds, but Strickland is willing to wait as long as necessary.
“As long as it takes, man. As long as it takes,” Strickland said. “I want the gold, dude. I want the gold. When you’re fighting these top-10 motherf*ckers, dude, you’re only one slip or dodge away from getting knocked out. I paid my penance (for losing the belt): I went and fought Costa. I didn’t want to and I did it. Give me my f*cking title shot. I beat Izzy, and that motherf*cker gets a title shot.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 302.
