Sean Strickland (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Sean Strickland isn’t interested in a No-1 contender fight with Robert Whittaker, and he is okay with waiting for the title shot he believes he has earned.
The former UFC middleweight champion has a point.
Here is what he posted on X on Tuesday when posed with the notion of facing Whittaker next, with the winner getting a shot at the championship.
Whittaker is coming off a dominant first-round finish of unranked Ikram Aliskerov, who stepped in on short notice to replace Khamzat Chimaev at UFC Saudi Arabia.
Strickland's journey to the title was marked by a dramatic upset win over Israel Adesanya in September 2023. However, his reign was short-lived, as he lost the title in his first defense in January, a loss that was marred by controversy due to the split decision in favor of Dricus Du Plessis.
Since then, Strickland defeated Paulo Costa via split decision earlier this month at UFC 301. As it is, Strickland is the UFC's No-1 contender.
Whittaker looked great dismantling Aliskerov and defeated Costa at UFC 298 in February. However, as Strickland mentioned, he has already lost to Adesanya twice (once by stoppage in 2019 and once by decision in 2022) and was stopped by Du Plessis in July 2023 at UFC 290.
Despite Adesanya's loss to Strickland in his last fight, the UFC has granted one of its biggest stars a title shot against Du Plessis to capitalize on one of the promotion's most heated rivalries.
Strickland could argue that he deserved the shot at Du Plessis at UFC 305 or in the Sphere in September more than Adesanya, and he'd be accurate.
Still, this is a business, and making good fights is only trumped by making good fights that also make a ton of money. Adesanya-Du Plessis could be the latter.
Strickland is no coward, but he's become a more savvy businessman who understands the fight game. If he were to accept the fight with Whittaker, one of the best of his era, and lose, it would push him further away from a title shot.
As the current No-1 contender, Strickland is in a strong position. It's difficult to see what he stands to gain from a fight with Whittaker other than a substantial payday. Strickland seems to believe he can secure a shot at regaining his title and a great payday by waiting for a rematch with the winner of Adesanya-Du Plessis. This strategic move demonstrates his understanding of the fight game.
As much as I and many other combat sports fans would love to see Strickland-Whittaker, Tarzan's one of the few elite middleweight matchups we've yet to see, it is tough to argue with Tarzan's approach.
Whittaker’s next move isn’t as evident. He has made himself available to be an alternate for the UFC 305 main event if Adesanya or Dricus Du Plessis are unable to compete.
With the regularity that we’ve seen fighters pull out of main events lately, there are far less secure positions to hold than an alternate for a UFC event.
If Adesanya were to pull out, Whittaker would be in a position to fight Du Plessis for the championship. If that happens, and Whittaker wins, we might wind up seeing him fight Strickland after all.
