Sean Strickland is planning to return to competition in December and has set his sights on whoever emerges victorious from the middleweight title fight between Dricus Du Plessis and Kamaru Usman. The former UFC middleweight champion is positioning himself for another title shot with the targeted comeback.
Sean Strickland has announced plans to return to the octagon in December and is already calling his shot at the middleweight title, targeting whoever wins the upcoming championship bout between Dricus Du Plessis and Kamaru Usman.
Strickland, 35, holds a professional record of 31-7 and is listed as champion in the middleweight division. The American fighter out of Xtreme Couture is one of the busiest strikers in the weight class, averaging 6.04 significant strikes per minute. Standing six-foot-one with a 76-inch reach, "Tarzan" fights out of an orthodox stance and has built his reputation on relentless forward pressure and volume punching.
Du Plessis enters the title picture as the No. 2-ranked middleweight and No. 7 in the pound-for-pound standings. The 32-year-old South African carries a 23-3 record and fights for Team CIT out of a switch stance. He averages 5.18 significant strikes per minute and also contributes on the ground, averaging 2.22 takedowns per 15 minutes, making him a genuinely well-rounded threat.
Usman, nicknamed "The Nigerian Nightmare," is moving up in weight class for this title fight after spending his career at welterweight, where he is currently ranked eighth. The 39-year-old American holds a 21-4 record and brings elite wrestling to the table, averaging 2.82 takedowns per 15 minutes with a striking accuracy of 52 percent — the highest of the three fighters in this storyline.
Why it matters
- Strickland's positioning keeps pressure on the division's champion ahead of the title fight
- A Du Plessis win would set up a potential rematch dynamic; a Usman win would create a cross-divisional title storyline
- All three men share identical 76-inch reaches and near-identical heights, pointing toward a closely contested physical matchup whoever Strickland faces
