Sean Strickland knows not to cross the boss.
After winning the UFC middleweight championship in September 2023, Strickland dropped it his first title defense at UFC 297 the following January, when he lost a close split decision to Dricus du Plessis. Both men scored victories in their next fights to set up a rematch, but the timing apparently wasn’t ideal for Strickland.
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Strickland told Kairouz Bros in a recent interview that he actually suffered a shoulder injury ahead of his second fight with du Plessis at UFC 312, only agreeing to accept that bout date on the UFC’s insistence. Du Plessis went on to again defeat Strickland, this time by a much more definitive decision.
“Before the Dricus fight, I was f*cking riding with [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 up for the fight and the thing with the UFC, you don’t say no. They are pimps. You don’t say no the masters. So I was kind of backed up into a corner taking that fight.
“So taking this time off, letting my body heal has been amazing. This shoulder feels f*cking great. I do miss fighting and I miss performing, but it’s been nice to be a fat, lazy, piece of shit for a while.”
The time off Strickland refers to is a six-month suspension he recently served for a post-fight altercation at a Tuff-N-Uff event in loss Vegas this past June. Strickland was in the corner of fighter Miles Hunsinger and after Hunsinger was submitted by opponent Luis Hernandez, Strickland entered the cage and attacked Hernandez, with victorious fighter having allegedly taunted him. The suspension ended in December and Strickland already has his first fight of 2026 booked, a main event clash with fellow middleweight contender Anthony Hernandez at UFC Houston on Feb. 21.
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While Strickland was on the sidelines, du Plessis went for a third title defense, but was defeated in one-sided fashion by Khamzat Chimaev. Du Plessis struggled for five rounds as Chimaev’s relentless wrestling neutralized him.
Strickland gave his analysis on why wrestlers like Chimaev and UFC welterweight champion Islam Makhachev are so effective.
“I already called it in the game with ‘DDP,’” Strickland said. “I’ve been training with these little Chechyans and whatever Dagestanis my whole life, I’ll give you an example. So you’ll train with these guys and it’s a thousand percent off the gate. They take you down and there’s a voice in your head that’s almost like, ‘F*ck. This guy doesn’t get tired. He doesn’t stop. He doesn’t quit. But then the moment you push back and you just keep fighting the good fight, all of a sudden they just start breaking.
“You see that with Gilbert [Burns], you’ve got a welterweight that just didn’t let [Chimaev] rag doll him and then next thing you know, you weren’t a wrestler anymore. So they have a very unique way of grappling and unless you’ve experienced that, it’s just something you’re not used to.”
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Strickland has been a popular name to call out in recent months, with the expectation that a win over him could lead to a title fight with Chimaev. He understands why the other contenders are coming after him and sees his fight with Hernandez as a legitimate No. 1 contender fight.
“The good thing about ‘Fluffy,’ the guy’s on, like, a 50-fight winning streak,” Strickland said. “You’re next in line. He’s like the American Chimaev. That’s the fight. That’s the next title fight.”
