When Mayra Bueno Silva torched Sean Strickland for insulting her co-main event bout at UFC 297: "He thinks he is a big star, but he is not"
Former UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland's polarizing take on sensitive matters seemingly appeals to many, including a few fellow fighters. However, others, including top-ranked women's bantamweight contender Mayra Bueno Silva, see it differently.
In Bueno Silva's case, she perhaps had enough or more reasons to develop an aversion to Strickland's remarks, which are often branded unsavory. The reason behind it traces back to the time they shared a card at the opening pay-per-view showcase of the year, UFC 297.
In the past, Strickland's alleged sexist remarks were criticized, particularly the comments questioning women in the workforce and their right to vote.
In the lead-up to the January event in Canada, headliner 'Tarzan' claimed to have been asked to "help" save the allure of the event, seemingly citing lack of star power in the billing.
He wrote:
"Well, Canada time to bring you all some freedom. Didn't want to fight in Jan or in Canada but was asked to help a couple [of] ladies do their job.. and they call me sexist.."
Bueno Silva, who took on Raquel Pennington for the vacant women's 135-pound throne, did not take kindly to Strickland's comments. She fired back at the American in an interview with ESPN, stating:
"Look, on paper, my fight with Raquel is not a good fight. But on paper, Sean Strickland and Dricus du Plessis is a good fight? No. Sean talks too much. He thinks he is a big star, but he is not a big star. I believe my fight and Sean’s fight, one helps the other."
She added:
“When we enter the octagon, I do a good fight and du Plessis does good fights, too. I don’t watch good fights from Sean Strickland. I don’t remember a good fight.”
Catch Silva's comments from 10:15 below:
Sean Strickland reacts to the Dricus du Plessis vs. Israel Adesanya booking for UFC 305
Following his victory over perennial contender Paulo Costa at UFC 302, Sean Strickland was actively lobbying for an immediate title shot. The basis of his case was rooted in the split decision loss to Dricus du Plessis at UFC 297, where 'Tarzan' dropped the 185-pound strap.
The American strongly contends that he won the fight and asserted following the victory over Costa that he was ready to exercise patience for the title shot. The UFC, instead, handed the opportunity to former two-time middleweight champion Israel Adesanya to headline UFC 305 against du Plessis. Strickland toppled the reign of Adesanya at UFC 293 last September before ceding the strap to 'Stillknocks'.
Strickland took to Instagram to react to the announcement of the matchup with a photoshopped picture, claiming that he got the better of both Adesanya and Du Plessis when they crossed paths.