Sean Strickland during UFC 302 at Prudential Center. Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

Sean Strickland doesn’t care about the middleweight belt

By Aaron Case | Last updated Feb 2, 2025 5:14 PM ET

For UFC middleweight Sean Strickland, the upcoming fight between him and division champion Dricus Du Plessis isn’t about the title. It’s about unfinished business.

“I want to fight Dricus because s--- wasn’t [settled],” the No. 1 UFC middleweight contender told ESPN’s Brett Okamoto. “I don’t give a f--- about the belt. I don’t care about that. I want to fight it because it needs to happen and we need to settle it once and for all.”

Du Plessis took the middleweight belt from Strickland at UFC 297 in a split decision that some experts feel should have gone the defending champ’s way. Strickland also believes he should have won, and he criticized the judges and UFC scoring criteria during his interview with Okamoto.

He pointed to the fact that he outstruck Du Plessis. According to the UFC, Strickland landed 173 significant strikes to Du Plessis’ 137. Also, 91% of Strickland’s significant strikes landed on his opponent’s head, compared to just 59% of Du Plessis’ finding Strickland’s noggin.

Revisit the key moments in Du Plessis vs. Strickland I from #UFC297 before the rematch #UFC312 | Saturday, 10 PM ET | ESPN+ PPV pic.twitter.com/f8bcav9dpP
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) February 2, 2025

Tarzan also claimed a headbutt from Du Plessis that filled his left eye with blood made him lose to Du Plessis. “It would’ve been a cakewalk,” Strickland said when Okamoto referenced a lack of vision impacting the outcome of the first fight.

Whatever happens at UFC 312, it’s probably good that Strickland doesn’t care about the belt, because even if he gets it he’ll probably have to fight Khamzat Chimaev next. And after Chimaev literally smashed Robert Whittaker’s face at UFC 308, there’s a good chance that whoever has the title after UFC 312 is simply holding it for Borz.

Aaron Case

Aaron Case is a die hard Yankees fan from upstate New York who fuels his writing with too much coffee. When he's not riding the emotional roller coaster that is the MLB season, he's probably daydreaming and doodling or making beats. Follow him on X @AarontheCase1

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