Sean Strickland believes he “should” be fighting Israel Adesanya next: “That one needs to happen”

Sean Strickland thinks he should be Israel Adesanya’s next opponent.

Currently, Adesanya does not have his next fight booked but the plan is for him to fight in September in Australia. Robert Whittaker vs. Dricus Du Plessis is booked for July as a title eliminator fight but whether or not they will be able to make that quick of a turnaround is uncertain.

However, even if the winner of Whitaker-Du Plessis can make a quick turnaround, Strickland still thinks he should be Adesanya’s next fight and believes that fight needs to happen soon.

“If this fight goes my way, it 100 percent should be in the cards. I f*****g had a close decision with f*****g, what the f*ck was that guy’s name? Black guy. Jared Cannoiner, you knocked some brain cells out of me. Solid guy. Thought I won on the scorecards but it is what it is. I truly believe I should be the one fighting Izzy but I lost (to Alex Pereira) fair and square. I’ll pay my tenants. I’ll get some W’s but yeah, that one needs to happen,” Strickland said to John Eric Poli.

RELATED: Sean Strickland names the one thing he respects about Israel Adesanya.

Of course, at UFC 276 when Israel Adesanya was facing Jared Cannonier, Sean Strickland was on the card taking on Alex Pereira and most of the press conference consisted of Strickland taking shots at ‘Stylebender’. Following the press conference many fans called for that fight to happen next, but Strickland ultimately suffered a KO loss to Pereira – ruling him out of the equation.

If Sean Strickland is going to get the next title fight he will need to be Abus Magomedov in the main event of the July 1 card from the UFC Apex. Should he do that, it would extend his win streak to two – as he beat Nassourdine Imavov last time out – and given his history with Adesanya, the lead-up to the fight would be full of trash talk.