Sean Strickland wants Anthony Hernandez next, but not in Australia.
Strickland (29-7 MMA, 16-7 UFC) confirmed that he’s been offered Hernandez (15-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC) at UFC 325 on Jan. 31 from Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney (Paramount+). While he got the matchup he called for, it’s not his preferred location.
The former middleweight champion has already fought twice in Sydney, upsetting Israel Adesanya to claim the belt at UFC 293, then in his most recent outing against Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 312, where he failed to recapture his title.
“Yes, I did say no to the Australia card,” Strickland said in a post on “X.” “Australia, I f*cking love you guys. You guys are all white trash. You’re all like-minded. I feel like we’re one of the same. But I don’t have medical insurance. So you want me to go get my first fight back in Australia and give half my check to you f*ckers and buy your medical insurance? I ain’t f*cking doing it. ‘Fluffy’ don’t want to do it. I don’t want to do it. We ain’t doing it. I love Australia, I love the UFC, but I can’t do it.
“I love the ‘Fluffy’ fight. Let’s get this sh*t booked in the States. I’m an American. I’m like one of the few real Americans that are fighting in the UFC other than Bryce (Mitchell), so let’s get this booked in the States. The middleweight division is on f*cking ice. You’ve got (champion Khamzat) Chimaev, the little wh*re. He has Ramadan, then he has a surgery, then he’s going to fight Nassourdine (Imavov) in a year and just dry hump Nassourdine. … The middleweight division doesn’t exist. I’d be better off trying to fight for a 205 belt than I would the middleweight belt.”
Strickland is gearing up to return after serving a suspension with the Nevada Athletic Commission for entering the cage as a cornerman at a regional event in Las Vegas and engaging in a physical altercation with an athlete who had just submitted a Strickland-cornered fighter.
