Why top ranked Sean Strickland faces unranked fighter next: “That’s f***ed up”

Sean Strickland will be back in action. Photo via YouTube

More than a few were surprised when the matchup between No. 7 ranked middleweight Sean Strickland and unranked Abus Magomedov was announced.

Why would a top dog like Strickland take on a dangerous and unranked fighter like Magomedov?

In a recent interview with Helen Yee, “Tarzan” claimed that the promotion basically gave him no choice if he wanted to stay active in 2023.

“The UFC came to me and they said ‘Sean, there’s- we asked a couple of top 10 guys, they said no,’ the UFC asked them, they said no, so they said ‘We’re going to be benching you for six to eight months until somebody opens up or you fight this guy [Magomedov],'” Strickland said. “And I said ‘UFC, that’s fuckeded up but I like the fight, I like to make money,’ I like to make money so I said yes.”

Magomedov has a record of 25-4 and won his UFC debut this past September with a first-round TKO. He will clash with Strickland on July 1 at the UFC Apex.

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Sean Strickland wanted Paulo Costa

Sean Strickland actually wanted to face top ranked Brazilian middleweight Paulo Costa next. A fight that would make a lot more sense on paper.

According to the American, the fight never materialized since Costa was ‘too busy playing games with the UFC’.

“Costa, me and you, we should’ve done the fucking man dance, I don’t know what the fuck happened dude,” Strickland said. “Me and Costa dude, we should’ve been fucking fighting.”

* Transcription credit to MMA News.

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