Sean Strickland drops major update on his UFC return, confirms his next opponent: "It's happening"
Sean Strickland has teased who he could face in his octagon return.
In January, Strickland's UFC middleweight title reign ended without a successful defense, as Dricus du Plessis defeated him by split decision. Since then, Strickland has fought once, defeating Paulo Costa in a five-round split decision.
Strickland believes his performance against Costa at UFC 302 proved he deserves another title shot. With that said, the middleweight title picture became somewhat complicated due to Robert Whittaker and Khamzat Chimaev fighting in a potential No.1 contender bout on Oct. 26.
Dana White has also recently said Dricus du Plessis vs. Sean Strickland 2 is happening next.
Earlier today, Strickland went on his Instagram story and reposted a fan-created poster for a rematch between him and du Plessis. The former UFC middleweight champion added the following caption as a teaser:
"It's happening . . location and date not confirmed"
Du Plessis has also fought once since defeating Strickland. On Aug. 17, the South African successfully defended his middleweight strap with a fourth-round submission against Israel Adesanya. 'Stillknocks' now holds an 8-0 UFC record, including six wins inside the distance.
UFC middleweight title picture besides Sean Strickland and Dricus du Plessis
There was a widespread belief that the UFC could wait until after Robert Whittaker's fight with Khamzat Chimaev to decide who would get the next middleweight title shot.
Heading into UFC 308, Whittaker is coming off wins against Paulo Costa (unanimous decision) and Ikram Aliskerov (first-round knockout). The former middleweight champion has had a resurgence in the division since suffering an upset defeat against Dricus du Plessis in July 2023.
Meanwhile, Chimaev's inactivity is arguably the only reason he hasn't fought for UFC gold. The undefeated 28-year-old is coming off a majority decision win against Kamaru Usman in October 2023 and now looks to silence the doubters by securing the biggest win of his MMA career.
As for the rest of the division, No.4-ranked Nassourdine Imavov and No.5-ranked Caio Borralho could be one win away from a title shot. Therefore, the UFC might match them up in the near future.
Israel Adesanya is the only other middleweight with a strong presence in the title picture. He lost against du Plessis on Aug. 18.