Sean Strickland on Ideal First Title Defense: ‘I Want to Make F---ing Money’

Sean Strickland pulled off a massive upset win over Israel Adesanya to be crowned the new middleweight champ at UFC 293 in Sydney earlier this month.

Despite Adesanya’s stellar reign atop the middleweight division, the lopsided nature of his title loss led to some questions about the Nigerian-born Kiwi’s potential claim to an immediate rematch.

Meanwhile, Strickland has his own priorities when it comes to his first title defense. The newly-crowned champ recently revealed that he is open to fighting anyone who promises a big payday.

“My thing is, dude, when it comes to that next fight, everybody’s like, ‘Who do you want to fight?’ I don’t give a f—k, dude. I want to make f—-ing money,” Strickland said on “The Man Dance” podcast. “I get those pay-per-view buys. Give me somebody who’s going to make f—-ing money. I don’t want to fight anybody boring. I want to fight, you know, give me someone who’s making money.”

Strickland also acknowledges that Adesanya will likely get an immediate rematch and expects a better showing from “The Last Stylebender” the second time around.

“It was a good time, you guys. It was a good time,” Strickland said. “I like fighting. I like to hit [people]. I like to fight, I give 110%, it was good. I thought Izzy would be better. I’m sure the UFC might give him a rematch and he might take it a little bit more serious and put up a better fight.”