Sean Strickland makes passionate plea for Israel Adesanya fight after dominant win

Strickland beat Abus Magomedov via TKO on Saturday, winning the Fight Night main event in Round 2

Sean Strickland demanded a shot at UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya on Saturday, after securing an impressive stoppage win over Abus Magomedov.

Strickland, 32, has won eight of his last 10 fights, bouncing back from consecutive losses last year to outpoint Nassourdine Imavov in January and beat Magomedov via TKO this weekend.

The American, who has made a number of controversial comments in the past – including saying he would be ‘very happy’ to kill an opponent in the ring – used his post-fight press conference on Saturday to passionately call for a title fight.

“It needs to happen,” Strickland said after winning his Fight Night main event with Magomedov in Round 2. “We know [Adesanya] is on f***ing repeat. This is what the UFC said: ‘The middleweight division’s stagnant, let’s get Abus in here, he might beat Sean.’

“And I’m like, ‘Yeah right, motherf*****! Wait until you see what happens!’ Every time they try to bring new blood... The French guy [Imavov] I fought before, I sent him home. This guy, I sent him back. Every time they try to bring new blood in, I send them back. Give me the f***ing title [shot], I earned it.

“I paid my dues. Give me that s***. I want the f***ing title. Don’t run me around. I took Imavov on three days’ notice.”

Adesanya is currently without a fight but is expected to defend his title against the winner of Robert Whittaker vs Dricus Du Plessis, which takes place on 8 July. Adesanya has not fought Du Plessis before, but he has beaten Whittaker twice.

The Nigerian-New Zealander knocked out Whittaker in 2019 to win the title, before outpointing the Australian last year to retain the belt. Adesanya, 33, then lost the title to Alex Pereira via TKO in November, but he avenged that defeat by knocking out his old rival in April.

Click here to subscribe to The Independent’s Sport YouTube channel for all the latest sports videos.