Sean Strickland defends UFC president Dana White from criticism for booking light heavyweight title fight without care for fighters
Sean Strickland has expressed his support for Dana White after the latter's announcement of the Glover Teixeira vs. Jamahal Hill fight. The UFC 282 event on December 10 witnessed Jan Blachowicz and Magomed Ankalaev clash for the vacant UFC light heavyweight title.
Their grueling five-round war ended in a split draw, and the title remained vacant. UFC president Dana White subsequently asserted that Teixeira will face Hill for the vacant title at UFC 283 on January 21, 2023. White also suggested that the Blachowicz-Ankalaev fight didn't live up to his expectations.
White's aforesaid assertions irked certain sections of the MMA community. His critics opined that he didn't care about his fighters and disrespected them by immediately announcing another fight for the vacant belt.
On an episode of the Weighing In podcast, former UFC fighter Josh Thomson lambasted White and stated:
"Dana never gave a f**k. These guys are still in the back getting stitched up and putting ice on their shins and f***ing Dana's announcing the next title shot in the weight class they just fought for. He never gave a sh**. He's like, 'I need a champion man. Can't market all these pay-per-views without a champion. I need a champion.'"
Check out Thomson's comments from 1:53 in the video below:
UFC middleweight star Sean Strickland has now chimed in and seemingly defended Dana White. Referencing an Instagram post from Sportsmanor regarding White's recent actions, Strickland wrote the following on his Instagram Stories:
"We are prostitutes lmao their is nothing wrong with that but stop acting like we're anything more"
"Dana is a buisness man and we are the cattle lmao just how the world works"
Dana White on the Jan Blachowicz vs. Magomed Ankalaev UFC 282 fight
Speaking to the media during the UFC 282 post-fight press conference, Dana White announced the Teixeira-Hill matchup for the vacant light heavyweight championship. Moreover, the UFC president proceeded to sound off against Jan Blachowicz and Magomed Ankalaev for their UFC 282 showdown.
Dana White alluded to Magomed Ankalaev being upset with the fight's verdict. The Russian fighter believed the judges robbed him by scoring it as a split draw. Speaking of which, the UFC head honcho jibed at Ankalaev and the fight as a whole;
“I don’t even know [who was winning], I started to zone out after like f**king three rounds. I heard that Ankalaev is upset, and whatever. What do you want me to do? You know? You got beat up the first two rounds, and then you took him to the ground and you started... What are you gonna do?"
Watch White discuss the topic at 1:10 in the video below: