Strickland – not Khamzat or Whittaker – will fight for the title next!

Dana White has changed his mind.

A few months back, the UFC CEO promised the winner of Robert Whittaker and Khamzat Chimaev a shot for middleweight gold next.

However, in a recent interview, he claimed he will give former middleweight champion Sean Strickland a chance to get the title back instead. He will face the winner of reigning champion Dricus du Plessis and Israel Adesanya, who will clash on Saturday.

“Sean Strickland right now is the No. 1-ranked middleweight in the world and the answer is yes,” White recently told Jim Rome.

”Khamzat should be ranked top 5”

The new plan is a bit of a surprise since the promotion recently rebooked Whittaker vs. Chimaev for the upcoming UFC 308.

“Chimaev should be ranked top 5 but he’s been inactive,” White said.

The undefeated superstar suffered health issues before the fight against Whittaker in June, which eventually cancelled the bout. According to the UFC CEO, Khamzat is now healthy again.

“He’s good. Leading up to this fight right now, he’s good. October 26, he is the co-main event,” White said.

“That should be a fun fight. Again, knock on wood that everybody makes it to Abu Dhabi.”

UFC 308 will go down on October 26 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. Check out the announced fights below.

• Featherweight title bout: Ilia Topuria (c) vs. Max Holloway
• Middleweight bout: Robert Whittaker vs. Khamzat Chimaev
• Heavyweight bout: Ciryl Gane vs. Alexander Volkov
• Light Heavyweight bout: Magomed Ankalaev vs. Aleksandar Rakić
• Featherweight bout: Lerone Murphy vs. Dan Ige
• Welterweight bout: Geoff Neal vs. Rafael dos Anjos
• Heavyweight bout: Marcos Rogério de Lima vs. Kennedy Nzechukwu
• Middleweight bout: Abusupiyan Magomedov vs. Brunno Ferreira
• Welterweight bout: Rinat Fakhretdinov vs. Nursulton Ruziboev

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