Fellow middleweight doesn’t think Dricus du Plessis deserves title shot

No 7 ranked UFC middleweight Sean Strickland believes it will be an embarrassment to the division if Dricus du Plessis gets a shot at Israel Adesanya for the title.

Does Dricus du Plessis deserve title shot?

Strickland doesn’t believe that Du Plessis will get beyond Robert Whittaker and feels he hasn’t come close to earning a title shot.

“I think Whittaker’s going to f*ck Dricus up,” Strickland told reporters at the UFC on ESPN 47 media day this week.

ALSO READ: Israel Adesanya ‘manifesting’ a Dricus Du Plessis win at UFC 290

“I think we all know that. That’s kind of a like a fight, why is this happening? Dricus fought (Derek) Brunson. Is Brunson retired yet? No, he’s not retired yet?

“When’s the last time you’ve seen a top 10 guy quit on the stool? Have you ever seen that? You don’t see that sh*t. It’s kind of embarrassing that Dricus gets a potential shot. But, you know, Izzy, the Chinese, the true Chinese, they probably want to bring a real African back to the championship.”

Wanting the shot himself

Strickland is ranked No 7 in the division just behind Du Plessis but called out Adesanya after a TKO win Abusupiyan Magomedov.

ALSO READ: Dricus du Plessis follows the Warrior’s Way

In an expletive-laden rant, Strickland told reporters: “F***, man. It needs to happen, you guys.

“We know Izzy is on f****** repeat, dude. They try to bring Abus (in). This is what the UFC said, ‘Man, the middleweight division is stagnant. (allproshadeconcepts.com) Let’s get Abus in here. He might beat Sean’. 

“And I’m like, “Yeah right, mother f*****. Wait until you see what happens”. Every time they’ve tried to bring new blood, (like) the Frenchie 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****** title. I earned it.”

It doesn’t seem likely that Strickland will get his way with Adesanya locked onto fighting the winner of the Du Plessis vs Whittaker match.