Is Sean Strickland an easier fight than Israel Adesanya or Alex Pereira?
Former UFC heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier, who now serves as color commentator and MMA analyst for ESPN, suggests welterweights like Leon Edwards and Kamaru Usman are in a big hurry to make a name for themselves in the middleweight division because “Tarzan” is a “beatable” champion.
“When I see, for years, Kamaru Usman refusing to go up to 185, partly because he’s friends with Izzy, but even when Alex [Pereira] became the champion, there was no talk of [Usman] going to 185,” Cormier said on YouTube. “Sean Strickland becomes the champ now and Leon Edwards is immediately talking about going to 185, Kamaru Usman was immediately talking about going to 185. What is that? Like, why he is — honestly, it feels like they feel like there’s a beatable champion, so I’m going to take my shot. Why is Sean Strickland overlooked still?”
Edwards was calling for a potential Strickland fight at the upcoming UFC 300 pay-per-view (PPV) event in April. As for Usman, he’s still contemplating a return to middleweight after falling short against Khamzat Chimaev — also a former welterweight — on the UFC 294 card earlier this year in Abu Dhabi.
But overlooking Strickland extends beyond the 170-pound weight class.
“I believe that now these guys at 170 [pounds] are like, they feel like Sean Strickland is beatable,” Cormier said. “I talked to people close to (Dricus) Du Plessis — they believe it is an afterthought that he gets through Sean Strickland. Like, they believe that he is so far ahead of Sean Strickland that it will not be competitive. I don’t know how you could watch that last fight [against Adesanya] and feel like that.”
Strickland defeated Adesanya at UFC 293 in Sydney to capture the middleweight crown and will make his first 185-pound title defense against surging South African bruiser Dricus Du Plessis in the UFC 297 PPV main event on Sat., Jan. 20, 2024 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
For more on that upcoming fight card click here.