Strickland shoots down Whittaker fight: 'I will wait'
Sean Strickland isn't interested in squaring off with Robert Whittaker in a showdown of former UFC middleweight champions.
Despite recent calls from the MMA community to face Whittaker next, Strickland said Tuesday on X that he plans to wait for an opportunity to regain the title.
"I keep getting asked to fight Whittaker," Strickland wrote. "I beat (Israel Adesanya). The world knows I beat (middleweight champion) Dricus (Du Plessis). Whittaker lost to both.
"I am the No. 1 contender. I defended that spot easily against (Paulo) Costa. I will wait."
Strickland defeated Adesanya in a stunning upset at UFC 293 last September to become the new 185-pound titleholder. He defended the belt against Du Plessis at UFC 297 in January and lost via split decision. And then Strickland rebounded with a lopsided win over Costa at UFC 302 earlier in June.
Du Plessis is scheduled to defend the title for the first time against Adesanya at UFC 305 on Aug. 17 in Perth, Australia.
Both Strickland and Whittaker have arguments to be next in line for the winner. Whittaker is riding a two-fight winning streak after knocking out Ikram Aliskerov in the first round of the UFC Saudi Arabia main event last weekend in Riyadh.
UFC CEO Dana White said Saturday he was open to having Whittaker, who's from Australia, serve as the backup fighter for Du Plessis-Adesanya. "The Reaper" is unbeaten since Du Plessis knocked him out in a non-title bout last July. Whittaker expressed interest in a rematch with Du Plessis after the win over Aliskerov.
However, Whittaker said Wednesday on his "MMArcade Podcast" that he won't be making a quick turnaround to fight in his home country at UFC 305.
"I'll be there, but I won't be fighting," Whittaker said. "I'm probably gonna look to fight at the end of the year - in October, November, (or) December. I'd like to get one more in, especially because I kind of went unscathed.
"It's a good time for me to rest my mind. Fighting's stressful. ... Even though my body is in good shape, I think it might be good for me to unwind a little bit from that."
Strickland and Whittaker are ranked No. 1 and 3 in the middleweight division, respectively. Adesanya sits at No. 2.