Sean Strickland is an American mixed martial artist who currently competes in the middleweight division of the UFC. Sean is a former UFC middleweight champion who has competed professionally since 2008. He is also a former King of the Cage middleweight champion. Sean Strickland won his middleweight title against Israel Adesanya at UFC 293 last year.
His championship reign would be quite short though, as Strickland proceeded to lose his championship to the South African mixed martial artist, Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 297, on January 20, 2024, at the Scotiabank Arena, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Sean started the fight strong and even ended it as strongly as possible but succumbed to a split decision loss.
Dropping his belt in his first-ever title defense is harsh for Strickland, that too via split decision. That might be the reason why Sean Strickland did not give any post-fight interviews to the media. He did feel like the decision should have gone the other way during the octagon interview. Another plausible reason could be the injuries he suffered during the fight.
Your #AndNew middleweight champion of the world 🏆
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— UFC (@ufc) January 21, 2024
Two overhands from Dricus landed flush on Strickland’s left eye and just above his forehead during the 3rd and 4th rounds. These strikes made quite deep cuts on Strickland’s face making a lot of blood gush out and somewhat blinding Strickland in the remainder of the fight. Maybe Sean was just tending to his injuries and hence missed out on the post-fight interviews.
What did Strickland have to say during his Octagon interview?
Sean Strickland will go home unsatisfied after Judge’s decision at the end of his first attempt to defend his title. And he won’t be the only one, as many people on the internet sympathized with Sean Strickland. Many believed that Strickland deserved to win that fight.
Strickland also felt similar to his fans. During the Octagon interview after losing his belt, Daniel Cormier asked Strickland, “Sean, was this the fight that you expected?” DC further continued, “Was there anything that surprised you about Dricus Du Plessis in there?”
Strickland responded by saying, “Yeah I called it, from the day one it was gonna be a f***ing war.” He went on to congratulate the new champ saying, “Hats off to the new champ, **** it was a goddamn war”. He then claimed that he felt that he won that fight. Strickland said, “I’m salty, I’m gonna say I won that but maybe I was being a ****, yea f*** that.”
He then went to thank the Canadian audience present in the stands for welcoming him. Strickland went on to say, “I told you I’ll bleed for you, and I bled for you. And I’ll do it on any day of the f***ing week.” He then called out to Dricus, “Let’s run it back, congrats champion and man I’m outta here”. Strickland then proceeded to walk out of the octagon.