Dana White praises newly crowned UFC champion Sean Strickland: “He’s as hot as can be”

Sean Strickland’s increased Instagram following post-UFC 293 has the world buzzing

Less than a week after winning the UFC middleweight title in a one-sided unanimous decision against Israel Adesanya, Sean Strickland’s popularity has risen in droves, which drew the attention of UFC president and newly-minted CEO Dana White.

100,000 Instagram followers later, Strickland, who won 49-46 on all three judges scorecards, had White reflect upon the current state of the middleweight division, a potential immediate rematch for Strickland with Adesanya, and the unpredictable nature of MMA and upset-centric title fights.

During a stroll in New York City Tuesday after Dana White and Vince McMahon joined forces to merge the UFC and WWE under TKO Group Holdings Inc., White, 54, said Strickland’s title reign is only just beginning.

Dana White discusses Sean Strickland’s win and how it shakes up middleweight

“Nobody gave a sh*t about Strickland a week ago, and now he’s hot as can be,” Dana White said. “That’s the thing with this sport. First of all, in boxing, when a guy who’s a 7-to-1 underdog is fighting, he loses every time. The 7-to-1 dog loses every time. Not in [MMA]. Anything is possible in this sport. Last week [with] Strickland, everybody was like, ‘Oh, this fight sucks. This is bulls**t.’ Now everybody’s swinging on him, you know what I mean, and he’s the man.”

Dana White quickly mentioned possible contenders for Strickland, including Dricus Du Plessis and Khamzat Chimaev, but did not elaborate on which direction the UFC might head in for Strickland’s first title defense.

Adesanya is now 4-3 in his last seven fights, as he failed to capture the UFC light heavyweight title and lost his first MMA fight against Alex Pereira, thus ending a three-year middleweight title run. “The Last Stylebender” would eventually win the title back from Pereira at UFC 287, but it was a short-lived second reign at the top of the 185-pound division.

Although the future of the middleweight title picture remains uncertain, Strickland’s victory made him the first man other than Adesanya or Pereira to hold the title since Robert Whittaker four years ago.

What do you make of Dana White’s comments regarding Sean Strickland’s performance? Let us know, Penn Nation!