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Sean Strickland recently weighed in on why he passed on a potential matchup with Caio Borralho. Strickland last competed at UFC 312 in February, where he suffered a lopsided unanimous decision defeat in his rematch against reigning middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis.
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The outspoken American has managed just one win in his last three appearances and finds himself in need of a statement victory to remain a top contender in the division. Almost three months after his loss, Strickland is back in training and has reportedly been offered several opponents for his return. However, it seems like none of the proposed names aligned with the fight he had been aiming for.
During a recent interview with MMA journalist Helen Yee, Strickland revealed his desire to challenge Reinier de Ridder. However, the former two-division ONE Championship titleholder was already scheduled to face Robert Whittaker at UFC Abu Dhabi on July 26. Consequently, Strickland was offered a bout against Borralho but declined, citing his close relationship with 'The Natural':
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"I wanted to fight that 'RDR' kid, but [he got booked]. Then Mick [Maynard] wanted me to fight Caio, such a great guy, but I said no. Well, we kind of both said no. It's one of those weird things where it's like, I know him, I know his wife, I know his family. You know that the press conference [would look like] 'Hey Caio, how's your baby doing? What, she's turning two?' It's awkward. It's such a bad fight because I know his family."
Check out Sean Strickland's comments below (26:15):
Sean Strickland sets sights on Belal Muhammad for next showdown
Sean Strickland and Belal Muhammad have engaged in a prolonged social media feud, with both fighters openly expressing their eagerness to settle their rivalry inside the octagon.
Following Muhammad’s unanimous decision defeat to Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 315 last week, Strickland believes ‘Remember the Name’ should move up to the middleweight division for his next challenge.
In the same interview with Helen Yee, 'Tarzan' issued a profanity-laced challenge to Muhammad and called him out for a potential showdown:
"Belal would be a fun fight. That would be a fun one. Belal, you should finally sack up. This is it. You could finally sack the f**k up. All that sh*t you talked, man. We can finally make it happen. You lost your belt. You kind of got f**ked up. I got f**ked up. We should make that fight happen, Belal. All that sh*t he talks on Instagram. He's like, 'I'm going to come fight you. I'm going to come to that.' Now you can you f**king p*ssy. Do it for Palestine." [29:30]
