Sean Strickland has no desire to fight Robert Whittaker.
Whittaker (26-9 MMA, 17-7 UFC) was hoping to make his return against fellow ex-middleweight champion Strickland (29-7 MMA, 16-7 UFC) at UFC 325 on Jan. 31 in Sydney, but neither fighter wound up on the card.
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Strickland has made it clear that he has no intentions of fighting in Australia again after competing there twice in title fights, but he was also dismissive of the idea of Whittaker, who lost back-to-back fights to Khamzat Chimaev and Reinier de Ridder.
“I don’t want Whittaker. It doesn’t do anything,” Strickland said in an interview with the Kairouz Bros. “I beat Whittaker, there’s no title shot ahead of that. It doesn’t do anything. Gatekeeper fighter, but it doesn’t do anything for me. … The good thing about ‘Fluffy’ is guy’s on like a 50-fight winning streak. You’re next in line. He’s like the American (Khamzat) Chimaev. That’s the fight. That’s the next title fight.”
Strickland got his wish and has been booked against Anthony Hernandez (15-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC) in the UFC Fight Night 267 headliner on Feb. 21 at Toyota Center in Houston (Paramount+). He gave a rather harsh analogy when explaining why the Whittaker fight never gauged his interest.
“It’s not a fight I’m excited about,” Strickland added on Whittaker. “It’s like the girl at the party everybody’s f*cked and you’re just like, ehh, maybe if 3 a.m. hits and there’s nobody left, I might try it.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Sean Strickland gives brutal response to Robert Whittaker’s callout
