Sean Strickland granted middleweight title shot, confirms Dana White

After campaigning for a title shot, Sean Strickland has finally been granted just that by UFC CEO Dana White.

Competing for the UFC middleweight title, Israel Adesanya makes his long awaited return to the octagon on August 17. He will face fierce rival Dricus Du Plessis, with the winner having their next matchup already confirmed.

According to Dana White, Sean Strickland has done enough to maintain his number-one contender spot and will fight for UFC gold next.

However, before Strickland can step in, Adesanya and Du Plessis have to settle their differences this weekend. White discussed the upcoming middleweight title fight during a recent interview.

“There’s real heat between these guys,” White told Jim Rome. “Normally, when you have this kind of heat, the fight might not be as great as all the talk is.”

“But, these are two really talented guys. World class-level guys. Legendary. Izzy’s an absolute legend in the sport, of MMA and kickboxing. This should be a great main event.”

While many expected the winner of Robert Whittaker and Khamzat Chimaev‘s highly-anticipated clash to be granted a shot at the throne next, those rumors have now been dismissed.

Dana White insisted that Sean Strickland will be the next challenger at 185 lbs.

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“Listen, Sean Strickland right now is the number one ranked middleweight in the world, and the answer is yes [He will fight for the title next].”

“We have Whittaker vs. Chimaev, so we’re going to have some fun fights… Khamzat should be ranked up there in the top 5, but he’s been inactive because he keeps getting sick before he fights.”

“All these fights are going to play out in the middleweight division, which is going to create some unbelievable fights for us going into 2025.”

Check out Dana White’s appearance on The Jim Rome Show below.

Tuesday:
2:00p ET Andy Staples (@Andy_Staples)
2:20p Dana White (@danawhite)
📻: @InfSportsNet
📡: Sirius XM 158
📺: @X https://t.co/KaneBOlu1w

— Jim Rome (@jimrome) August 13, 2024