Outside Source
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.”
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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