‘They Want Me To Shut The F— Up’

Dana White may be all for free speech, but Strickland says woke UFC sponsors and investors are the reason a Du Plessis rematch hasn’t been booked.

Sean Strickland is demanding the UFC give him a rematch against Dricus Du Plessis after the South African fighter took the middleweight title of him at UFC 297.

The two engaged in a close back and forth bout that ended in a split decision win for Du Plessis. There was a lot of chatter from fans (and even Dana White) that “Tarzan” should have won, which is enough in Strickland’s mind to justify an immediate rematch. The only reason the UFC might deny that? Because they’re trying to silence the outspoken American.

“I don’t really talk to UFC much,” Strickland said in a new interview with The Schmo. “All the UFC [does is] tells me to shut up. But let me tell you something about the UFC. I deserve that rematch, and if they don’t give me that rematch, they’re just not one of us. If they don’t give me that rematch, understand it’s for one reason and one reason alone: they want me to shut the f— up. We all know what will happen, we’ll find out.”

“Dana is the definition of free speech, he supports it to such a degree. But UFC is financed by, you got Bud Light, all these massive corporations that even though Dana might be like, ‘Hey I let Sean say what he wants,’ there’s a lot of very wealthy people telling him to shut me up. And not just shut me up, shut you guys up. Because everything I say is things you say. Everything I say is what UFC fans say. So when they reprimand me, understand they reprimand you guys.”

“I won. Dana said I won, Rogan said I won, we all know I won,” he said. “I went to Canada and I fought in front of the commies and they shafted me. Dricus wants it, I want it. Win your title like a man, my friend. You know you got a gift from God. Let’s run this s— back, settle it like men. That’s all I’m trying to say. Settle it like a man.”

Unfortunately for Sean, there’s a big money fight on the horizon between Dricus Du Plessis and Israel Adesanya. That’s the fight the UFC has always wanted, and Strickland only got his title shot against Adesanya when Du Plessis refused to be pressured into fighting at UFC 293 on short notice. Now the promotion seems focused on making “DDP” vs. “Stylebender” happen, leaving Strickland out in the cold.

The fight game is unpredictable, though, and everything could change at a moment’s notice. So Sean is making sure he doesn’t get pushed out of the discussion.

“I’m at a good point in my life, I don’t even have to fight,” Strickland said. “I don’t give a f— about the belt. I want to fight Dricus, it needs to happen, and we need to find out who won, bottom line. I never cared about the belt and I still don’t. I just know you didn’t win. The world thought I won, the striking thought I won. Just run this s— back, let’s handle it. You beat me fair and square, I’ll put the belt around your waist myself.”