Conor McGregor congratulated the new UFC middleweight world champion, Sean Strickland.
On Saturday night, ‘Tarzan’ shocked the world by delivering a picture-perfect five-round performance against Israel Adesanya to capture his first UFC title. ‘The Last Stylebender’ went into the bout as a seven-to-one favorite on multiple sportsbooks, and while some suggested Strickland’s conservative striking method could give Adesanya some trouble, nobody expected the California native to win four rounds against the UFC’s only two-time middleweight titleholder.
Taking to X (formerly Twitter) following the stacked night of fights, Conor McGregor offered some words of encouragement to Strickland and once again shared his love and appreciation for his employer.
“The “spar only” method crowns the new ufc middleweight world champion,” McGregor wrote. “Well done Sean. Unlucky Izzy. Two quality operators as well as complete opposite characters facing off, where else would you get it. Incredible! What a sport. What a company! @ufc is King.”
What’s Next for Sean Strickland?
With the victory, Sean Strickland moved to 15-5 inside the Octagon, and 28-5 overall. As for what comes next, a fight with top-ranked contender Dricus Du Plessis certainly sounds intriguing given each fighter’s unique style. There is also the possibility of an immediate rematch, though that would likely be a hard sell for fight fans considering how dominant Strickland was against the ‘Stylebender’ at UFC 293. Not to mention Adesanya just regained the title from an immediate rematch against Alex Pereira in April.
Then you have to factor in October’s highly anticipated clash with Paulo Costa and Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 294. That bout could certainly present a new potential contender in the division that would be far more intriguing than yet another immediate rematch.
What do you think should be next for the newly minted middleweight champ?