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Not Sean Strickland but THIS UFC Star Deserves Middleweight Title Shot Next, Says Dricus du Plessis
Dricus Du Plessis argues that another fighter deserves a middleweight title shot more than Sean Strickland, stirring debate within the MMA community.
Robert Whittaker is the fittest man to challenge Dricus Du Plessis for the middleweight title. While Dana White has already named Sean Strickland as the next in line for the title, Du Plessis himself does not think that the American is ‘deserving’ enough. Speaking on the matter recently, the South African opined that Strickland got the nod ahead of Whittaker due to the fact that their match went the full five rounds.
Following White’s announcement of Strickland and Du Plessis locking horns in January 2025, the middleweight champion mentioned that Whittaker is ‘done over’ by the UFC. Speaking on the matter, ‘Stillknocks’ said, “Robert Whittaker deserves the shot. I think he's been done over…Sean Strickland's only saving grace is the fact that he went to decision with me. That's it.. So, yeah, Robert Whittaker beat [Paulo] Costa in more spectacular fashion I believe than Strickland did. Then Whittaker stepped up to fight Khamzat, who pulled out.”
Indeed, Robert Whittaker has had a fantastic turnaround after being knocked out by Dricus du Plessis in UFC 290. Presumed to be out of title contention, Whittaker put up a dominant display to get rid of Paulo Costa and Ikram Aliskerov back-to-back. He will now be facing off against Khamzat Chimaev next in UFC 308. A victory against Chimaev will definitely bolster his chances of making it to the list of title contenders.
But as of now, he will have to wait until the feud between Sean Strickland and Dricus du Plessis settles. This means that Sean Strickland will get his wish fulfilled. Ever since his UFC 297 loss, Strickland has been expressing his dissatisfaction with the way the judges scored the match. As a result, Strickland immediately called for a rematch but did not get the support of Dana White or Du Plessis. Both were inclined towards giving Israel Adesanya a chance to reclaim his lost title.
In the meantime, Strickland had been busy beating up Paulo Costa to come back to winning ways. Immediately after Du Plessis’ victory, Strickland revealed that he wanted to face ‘Stillknocks’ in Los Angeles. ‘Tarzan’ has previously lashed out at fans for touting Robert Whittaker as a possible contender for the middleweight title. Pointing towards their ranking, Strickland urged the UFC to do the right thing. And by the looks of it, ‘Tarzan’ seems to have gotten his request fulfilled. Thus, with another title shot on the horizon, all eyes will be on Sean Strickland to see whether he can avenge his UFC 297 defeat.
