A natural byproduct of pulling off a historic upset in a title fight is the heavy amount of doubt placed on the champion afterwards.
If you believe Daniel Cormier, Sean Strickland is being perceived through that lens after decisively snatching the middleweight title from Israel Adesanya at UFC 293.
While speaking to Ben Askren on his YouTube channel, the former two division king revealed how he feels Sean Strickland is being overlooked by potential opponents including the man who will challenge him for the belt at UFC 297, Dricus Du Plessis.
“I talked to people close to Du Plessis. They believe it is an afterthought that he gets through Sean Strickland,” Cormier revealed. “They believe that he’s so far ahead of Sean Strickland that it will not be competitive. I don’t know how you can watch that last fight and feel like that.”
The mentality that Sean Strickland is a lesser champion than his predecessors at 185 pounds has apparently extended beyond the division he lords over. Cormier and Askren agree that both the current welterweight title holder and the man he dethroned see the 33-fight veteran as the easiest path to double champ status.
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“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 champion there was no talk of him going to 185. 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…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?”
Since defeating Usman in an immediate rematch after his own upset title-winning victory, Edwards has been vocal about testing himself at middleweight. However, in the lead up to his decision win over Colby Covington at UFC 296, Edwards clarified that any pursuits outside of 170 pounds were “not an immediate goal” and that he intends on “dominating the division.”
In October, Usman made his middleweight debut against Khamzat Chimaev, raising eyebrows with an impressive performance on short notice in a close decision loss. Since then, the “Nigerian Nightmare” has flirted with the idea of making 185 home.
As far as Du Plessis is concerned, he will have the chance to prove his team right at UFC 297. The South African will challenge Strickland in the main event of 2024’s first pay per view event.
UFC 297 takes place on Jan. 20 from Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena.
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