Sean Strickland felt pressure from the UFC to accept Du Plessis’ rematch while he was injured

Sean Strickland says he was less than 100% for his middleweight title rematch with Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 312.After losing a controversial split decision to Du Plessis in their first meeting at UFC 297, Strickland lost a more convincing unanimous decision to the South African standout in his most recent outing last February. During a performance at the Podcast “Kairouz Bros”.he revealed that he felt pressured to accept the fight despite a lingering injury sustained outside the cage.

“I’m an idiot, guys. I deserve this,” Strickland said. “Before the Dricus battle I rode with the king [motocross athlete]
Axell Hodges and I broke my shoulder,” Strickland said. “So I was in Colombia getting stem cells on my shoulder and they hit me before the fight. The problem with the UFC is that you don’t say no. They’re pimps. You don’t say no to the masters. So I was kind of backed into a corner during that fight.”So it’s been great to take this time off and let my body heal. This shoulder feels great. I miss fighting and I miss performing, but it was nice to be a fat, lazy piece of shit for a while.”

Opposite ‘The American Chimaev’

Strickland will return to action for the first time since February 2025 when he meets the streaking Alexander Hernandez in the headliner of UFC Houston on February 21. “Fluffy” has won eight straight promotional appearances and could be on the verge of a middleweight title shot. That’s the kind of opponent Strickland wants to face.

“The good thing about ‘Fluffy’ is he’s on a 50-fight winning streak,” Strickland said. “You’re next in line. He is just like the American Chimaev. That’s the fight. That’s the next title fight.”