Sean Strickland has confirmed he plans to wait for the next title shot following an endorsement from Jon Anik.
Strickland (29-6 MMA) lost his middleweight title to Dricus Du Plessis (21-2 MMA) this past January at UFC 297. ‘Tarzan’ went on to fight and defeat Paulo Costa (14-4 MMA) by split-decision just last weekend, June 1st, at UFC 302.
At the post-fight press conference, Sean Strickland was asked how long he’s willing to wait for a shot at the title, with his response being:
“As long as it takes. I want the gold. When you’re fighting these top-10 motherf*ckers, you’re only one slip and dodge away from being knocked out. I paid my penance, I did what we did, I went and fought Costa. I didn’t want to, I did it. Give me the f*cking title shot. I beat Izzy and that motherf*cker gets a title shot.”
Anik, spoke about the Strickland vs Costa bout, telling MMA on Sirius XM:
“I thought he (Strickland) fought great. I thought he could have waited for a championship opportunity and didn’t. I mean, has anyone stepped up for the UFC more than Sean Strickland?”
Continuing Anik said:
“The main event against Nassourdine Imavov, the main event against Abus Magomedov – both of those had circumstances in which he was stepping up for the UFC, and those came on the back end of him putting his No. 4 ranking on the line against Alex Pereira when no one in the top 10 would’ve fought him at UFC 276. So, if anyone deserves to sit right now for 12 months after essentially dominating Paulo Costa, it’s Sean Strickland.”
“In no other sport do you have to win and entertain. Even in a 1-0 baseball game – and I said this on my podcast this week – everybody’s giving the pitcher credit. Sean Strickland essentially just pitched a shutout against a very dangerous man in the top seven. I’m not sure what he was supposed to do.”
Concluding, Anik believes Stricklands’ next fight needs to be for the title:
“I know Eric Nicksick came over and apologized to Hunter (Campbell) and Dana a little bit. I knew it wasn’t the fight we expected. I thought it was going to be the Fight of the Night. But Sean Strickland – his skills never lead the conversation because of his personality, and I think his skills need to lead the conversation and his next fight should definitely be for the championship.”
Sean Strickland responded to Jon Anik’s comments with the following message on Instagram:
“I appreciate the love man!!! I’ll be waiting for the next title shot…”
Do you agree that Strickland deserves and should wait for a title shot?
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