Sean Strickland impressed by Israel Adesanya's latest call-out

Following Israel Adesanya's successful attempt at recapturing middleweight gold, he took the chance to call out a new challenger which has caught the attention of divisional mainstay Sean Strickland.

Despite always being surrounded by controversy, Strickland was given the spotlight heading into UFC 276 last year and was arguably one step away from competing for the title before the loss. Having lost back-to-back fights, the 32-year-old returned to winning ways last time out and is ready to make another title push.

In a recent interview, Sean Strickland applauded Israel Adesanya for his recent response to Dricus du Plessis, claiming the challenger will be a "nice, easy fight" for the champion.

"Here's the thing. Dricus had to go and say some stupid sh*t. Well, I don't know, not stupid sh*t about him being the real African and then Izzy was like, 'I'm going to use that to get me a nice, easy fight because this is not UFC, this is the WWE.'... Izzy, smart fu**ing move, man, fighting Dricus.

"Smart fu**ing move picking that man. I don't think Dricus [versus myself] is gonna happen, I think Izzy is gonna get what he wants and he's gonna have a nice, easy win and get a big old fu**ing paycheck beating up a can."

Despite having impressive wins over top contenders like Derek Brunson and Darren Till, alongside victories over veterans like Brad Tavares, Dricus du Plessis still arguably doesn't get the respect he deserves from fellow fighters. Just five fights into his UFC career, the South African could be next in line for a title shot.

Check out what Sean Strickland had to say about 'Stillknocks' and Israel Adesanya in the video below.

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What is the history between Israel Adesanya and Dricus du Plessis?

Although not long ago there seemed to be no history between the two middleweights, Du Plessis' comments understandably rubbed Adesanya the wrong way, subsequently igniting a feud.

The 29-year-old is a proud South African who lives, trains and fights out of the country, but things escalated when he made comments directed towards Kamaru Usman, Francis Ngannou, and 'The Last Stylebender' and their heritage.

Du Plessis insists that none of the previously mentioned fighters are true Africans and that he will be the one to take the title back to his country and be the first real UFC champion hailing from Africa, which got a response from Adesanya.