UFC middleweight star Sean Strickland has demanded a shot at the title against Israel Adesanya after his second-round TKO win over Abusupiyan Magomedov on Saturday at UFC on ESPN in Las Vegas on Saturday.
The American started the fight on the back foot after suffering early leg kicks from Magomedov and was eventually taken down. He however responded by overwhelming his opponent with several combined shots before earning a second-round stoppage, his first since 2020.
Speaking with reporters after the win, Strickland called on the UFC hierarchy to give him the opportunity to face Adesanya for the middleweight title citing that the Nigerian-born New Zealander has defeated the first five contenders at least once.
“F***, man. It needs to happen, you guys,” Strickland said per DailyMail.
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“We know Izzy is on f****** repeat, dude. They try to bring Abus (in). This is what the UFC said, ‘Man, the middleweight division is stagnant. Let’s get Abus in here. He might beat Sean.’
“And I’m like, ‘Yeah right, mother f*****. Wait until you see what happens’. Every time they’ve tried to bring new blood, (like) the Frenchie I fought before, I sent him home.
“This guy, I sent him back. Every time they try to bring new blood in, I send them back. Give me the f****** title. I earned it.”
Adesanya is currently without an opponent after having reclaimed his middleweight belt by KO’ing old rival Alex Pereira at UFC 287 in April.
Despite his rants, Strickland is currently ranked the 7th contender for the title shot behind Alex Pereira, Robert Whittaker, Jared Cannonier, Martin Vettori, and Paulo Costa who have all lost to Adesanya and South Africa’s Driscus du Plessis.
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