Sean
Strickland came up short for a second time against Dricus Du
Plessis at UFC 312 | Getty/UFC
Sean
Strickland says that he was less than 100% for his middleweight
title rematch with Dricus Du
Plessis at UFC
312.
After losing a contentious split-decision to Du Plessis in their
first meeting at UFC 297, Strickland lost a more convincing
unanimous verdict to the South African standout in his most recent
outing last February. During an appearance on the “Kairouz Bros” podcast, he revealed that he felt
pressured to accept the fight despite a lingering injury suffered
outside the cage.
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“I’m an idiot, you guys. I deserve this,” Strickland said. “Before
the Dricus fight, I was f—king riding with [motocross athlete]
Axell Hodges and I broke my shoulder,” Strickland said. “So I was
in Colombia getting stem cells on my shoulder and they hit me up
for the fight. The thing with the UFC, you don’t say no. They are
pimps. You don’t say no to the masters. So I was kind of backed up
into a corner taking that fight.
“So taking this time off, letting my body heal has been amazing.
This shoulder feels f—king great. I do miss fighting and I miss
performing, but it’s been nice to be a fat, lazy, piece of s—t for
a while.”
Facing ‘The American Chimaev’
Strickland will return to action for the first time since February
2025 when he meets the streaking Alexander
Hernandez in the
UFC Houston headliner on Feb. 21. “Fluffy” has won eight
straight promotional appearances and could be on the verge of a
middleweight title shot. That’s the kind of opponent Strickland
wants to face.
“The good thing about ‘Fluffy,’ the guy’s on, like, a 50-fight
winning streak,” Strickland said. “You’re next in line. He’s like
the American Chimaev. That’s the fight. That’s the next title
fight.”