What is shocking about the world of fighting is the fact that the wave of favoritism can flow around any direction and seems like this time it’s flowing against the former middleweight champ, Sean Strickland. The Las Vegas, Nevada native won the middleweight championship by defeating Israel Adesanya last year at UFC 293, but he lost it earlier this year to Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 297. Du Plessis got the victory by way of a unanimous decision, which was highly debated as the fight was evenly matched.

In a perfect world scenario, ‘Tarzan’ should be getting a rematch against Du Plessis for the title, but the reality is quite different. The probability of Strickland getting the title shot above Israel Adesanya is very low at the moment. Strickland just defeated Paulo Costa at UFC 302. Despite his discontent at not being able to finish the Brazilian, he believes that he should be the one to get the title shot.

Sean Strickland calls out the UFC for giving him the title shot

After his defeat at UFC 297, Sean Strickland had only one thing on his mind: victory. And victory is what he achieved at UFC 302. The former champ started the match slow but made sure to chop down at the Brazilian. ‘Tarzan’ even threw a jumping kick in the direction of Costa at the end. Strickland clinched the victory by way of a split decision which was a bit of a shock considering the fact that he was dominant in his approach.

During the post-figh͏t press confe͏rence, the media͏ asked Sean Str͏ickland about his opin͏ion on g͏etti͏ng a title sh͏ot. The ͏former champion replied that he would wait as long as it took for the UFC to give him the ͏opportunity. “As long as it takes. I want the gold, dude. I want the gold. When you’re fighting these top 10 motherf**kers, dude, you’re only one slip and dodge away from being knocked out,” said the former middleweight champ.

He further added, “I paid my penance. I did what we did. I went and fought Costa. I didn’t want to. I did it. Give me the fu**ing title shot. I beat Izzy. That motherf**ker got the title shot.” Sean Strickland is frustrated by the fact that despite the loss and hiatus, Adesanya is being offered a title fight in UFC Perth.

Israel Adesanya is expected to clash with Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 305. Their clash would take place at Rac Arena on August 18th. The official announcement is yet to be made by Dana White but it’s more or less confirmed that ‘Izzy’ would be clashing against the South African for the 185 lbs gold. What if Adesanya does win the belt? What will be the fate of the division? Let’s find out.

What’s going on in the middleweight division and what’s next?

With the conclusion of Paulo Costa vs. Sean Strickland, the middleweight division seems to be in a state of dilemma right now as there are many contenders for the same title. Who are the contenders, you ask? Let us find out. Well, it is sure that Israel Adesanya would be clashing against the South African heavyweight, Dricus Du Plessis for the middleweight title.

So that makes Adesanya the number one contender right? Well, you see it’s a bit complicated as Khamzat Chimaev and Robert Whittaker are about to clash this June for the number one contender spot for the ‘185’ lbs title. So if we take the analysis then, the victor of Chimaev vs. Whittaker would be clashing against the victor of Du Plessis vs. Adesanya for the title.

The division has been hyperactive recently and it won’t be a surprise that we will be witnessing an era of active championship fights in the middleweight division. In the case of Strickland, he might be getting the title shot after a win to two but who knows, Dana White might change his mind and give the controversial former champion another chance at the belt. What’s your take on the situation? State your thoughts in the comments below.