Sean Strickland was announced as a fighter for the UFC middleweight world title last night, but still didn't seem satisfied.
The ex-champ was stripped of the title in his first defense against Dricus Du Plessis in January, but earned his way to a rematch by defeating Paulo Costa at UFC 302. However, that was in jeopardy when Khamzat Chimaev brutalized Robert Whittaker at UFC 308. to bring his name into question again.
However, despite the hype surrounding Chimaev's win, Strickland has been given a chance at redemption. Even though he got his chance, he focused on Chimaev on social media after the announcement, instead of his actual opponent.
Sean Strickland earns world title rematch with Dricus Du Plessis
During last night's broadcast of UFC 310, the main and co-main events for UFC 312 were announced, including a middleweight title fight. Sean Strickland was named as the next contender ahead of South African Dricus Du Plessis, who has looked unbeatable in the octagon so far.
The co-main event will see Zhang Weili defend her strawweight title against Tatiana Suarez, with other fights yet to be announced. It will be the second pay-per-view event of the year, after UFC 311 launched with a press conference in Las Vegas on Friday.
That show will take place at the new Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, with Islam Makhachev once again matching Arman Tsarukyan in the main event. The co-main event will see Merab Dvalishvili take on undefeated contender Umar Nurmagomedov, meaning Khabib Nurmagomedov will be in the corner for both title fights.
Sean Strickland is aiming for the first posts after announcing the fight against Khamzat Chimaev
After the fight was announced, Strickland shared a very short message along with the event poster on his Instagram page. He wrote: “Time to bring some violence and freedom to Australia once again! Deny Defend. No idea where this saying came from or who said it, but I like it. Really catchy… but no idea..”
However, the majority of his messages were addressed to Khamzat Chimaev, where he delivered a profanity-laced tirade towards the Swede in a series of tweets. Writing on X he told his rival: “I love how c**shot [a crude nickname for Chimaev] will try to talk to me.
“Bro you are not a man, character level f***ing dog s***…Stay in your lane Swedish man.” He also replied to a fan who shared a photo of them training together by adding: “Bro is literally scum. “I took a difficult photo because I'm a small man and I have to act tough”… Bro isn't even a man at this point.
He then claimed that Chimaev would train too stiffly with lesser known fighters who had limited experience during their sessions. He told a fan: “He goes too hard against 'low level guys'. He's patching a 3-1 guy, lol.”
Sean Strickland previously claimed he would not fight in Australia
It looked like Strickland was going to play hardball with the UFC and force them to postpone his world title fight until March's UFC 313 event in Las Vegas. But he has succumbed to plans to bring him back to Australia.
The last time he fought there he won the title against Israel Adesanya and was wildly popular with fans, but not so much with government officials who financed the event.
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
He tweeted in October: “UFC event planning; “I have a great idea, let's send Sean to fight for a championship abroad where the government absolutely hates him.” UFC, are you fucking with me or trying to tell me you want me to spread freedom?! I sometimes wonder….”
A month later he said: “I'm not fighting in Australia. We're thinking of Vegas in March. I have love for the Aussies. BUT I don't think your government likes me… I take that as a compliment. Hate speech isn't real and I will always stand up for my kangaroo homies! FREEDOM!”
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