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UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland is a character. Despite not being an action fighter who sets fans alight with knockouts, he has consistently entertained the MMA community at press conferences and interviews due to his unfiltered, over-the-top personality.
Now, with Logan Paul's boxing match with Dillon Danis within touching distance, Sean Strickland has offered his thoughts on the bout during an interview conducted by his friend and frequent collaborator Nina-Marie Daniele. The newly minted UFC middleweight champion was asked for a prediction.
However, as is common with Strickland's interviews, his answer completely derailed the interview and had nothing to do with the question:
"I think Dillon's a piece of s**t, dude. He's somebody I'd like to f***ing kill."
After Daniele expressed her disbelief and speculated, as do many, that Danis is merely playing a character to draw as much attention to himself as possible, Strickland merely echoed his previous sentiments.
"But I would still like to kill him. That would be so fun actually. That'd be really nice."
The irony of Nina-Marie Daniele suggesting that Dillon Danis has adopted an outlandish persona is that Sean Strickland himself is said, by some, to be using a persona as well. However, this does not mark the first time that Strickland has spoken about a desire to end someone's life.
But Strickland is one of several fighters who engage in trash talk that clashes with their fighting styles, given that the UFC middleweight champion typically fights behind a jab and a one-two combination without much intention of knocking his opponent out.
Sean Strickland's first UFC title defense
After much speculation, Sean Strickland has now been made aware of who the first title challenger for his middleweight championship will be. While UFC CEO Dana White initially considered the idea of an immediate rematch between 'Tarzan' and Israel Adesanya, that is no longer the case.
Adesanya has recently revealed that he will embark on a hiatus from combat sports. Meanwhile, the UFC has announced that the winner of the Khamzat Chimaev vs. Kamaru Usman co-main event at UFC 294 will earn a crack at Strickland's middleweight title.
