Outside Source
Sean Strickland wants his next fight to be in the United States. | Getty/UFC
Sean Strickland isn’t willing to go Down Under to face Anthony Hernandez.
In a recent post on social media, the former UFC middleweight champion confirmed that he turned down a proposed matchup against Hernandez at UFC 325 on Jan. 31 in Sydney, Australia. While Strickland likes the fight, he doesn’t care for the location — and he claims Hernandez is of a similar mindset.
Advertisement
“Yes, I did say no to the Australia card,” Strickland said in a video post on X. “Australia, I f—ing love you guys. You guys are all white trash. You’re all like-minded. I feel like we’re one of the same. But I don’t have medical insurance. So you want me to go get my first fight back in Australia and give half my check to you f—-ers and buy your medical insurance? I ain’t f—ing doing it. ‘Fluffy’ don’t want to do it. I don’t want to do it. We ain’t doing it. I love Australia, I love the UFC, but I can’t do it.”
Instead, Strickland would prefer to face Hernandez on a card in his home country. Thus far, the promotion has only announced two events for its 2026 campaign: UFC 324 in Las Vegas and UFC 325 in Sydney. Those events mark the beginning of the UFC’s broadcast partnership with Paramount+.
“I love the ‘Fluffy’ fight. Let’s get this s—t booked in the States,” Strickland said. “I’m an American. I’m like one of the few real Americans that are fighting in the UFC other than Bryce [Mitchell], so let’s get this booked in the States.
Taking a Shot at the Champ
Strickland added that he doesn’t expect much movement in the middleweight division for as long as Khamzat Chimaev is the reigning title holder.
“A little insight on the middleweight division: The middleweight division is on f—ing ice. You’ve got Chimaev, the little whore. He has Ramadan, then he has a surgery, then he’s going to fight Nassourdine [Imavov] in a year and just dry hump Nassourdine. Then he’s got to go back home and kiss the dictator. Maybe his ovaries are hurting. The middleweight division doesn’t exist. I’d be better off trying to fight for a 205 belt than I would the middleweight belt. It don’t exist anymore. This is what we’ve got when we’ve got that little whore.”
Strickland hasn’t competed since dropping a five-round verdict to Dricus Du Plessis in a middleweight championship rematch at UFC 312 this past February. The 34-year-old Xtreme Couture representative was suspended for six months after attacking the opponent of a fighter he was cornering at a Tuff-N-Uff event on June 29 in Las Vegas. Strickland scored the biggest win of his career when he upset Israel Adesanya to capture 185-pound gold at UFC 293 in September 2023, but he would lose the belt to Du Plessis in his first title defense one bout later.
Hernandez has emerged as a person of interest in the middleweight division after compiling an eight-fight winning streak that dates back to February 2021. “Fluffy” is coming off a fourth-round submission victory over Roman Dolidze at UFC on ESPN 72 on Aug. 9.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
Help support MMACrazies.com when you shop Amazon by starting your online Amazon shopping at MMACrazies.com/recommends/amazon. You are not charged extra, but we receive a small and very helpful commission on everything you purchase. Thanks for thinking of us every time you shop at Amazon.
