UFC Champ Sean Strickland Raises Eyebrows With Bold Claim about Fighting UFC Legend

UFC Middleweight Champion Sean Strickland recently dropped an interesting take on how he’d match up with one of the greatest fighters in MMA history.

One of the more outspoken and controversial UFC stars in recent memory, Strickland is now a two-time UFC middleweight champion after he handed Khamzat Chimaev the first loss of his career in a significant upset in the main event of UFC 328.

The 35-year-old is no stranger to beating the odds in UFC title fights, as he also upset Israel Adesanya in 2023 to initially claim middleweight gold before being unseated by Dricus du Plessis in his first title defense.

Sean Strickland Predicts Fantasy UFC Fight With Anderson Silva

In attendance at the Meta APEX last weekend for the Brandrisk 14 card that saw Johnny Manziel defeat Bob Menery in the night’s amateur MMA headliner, Strickland received a question from Nina Drama during the event about how he might have fared against UFC Hall of Famer Anderson Silva.

Anderson Silva (red gloves) before his fight against Michael Bisping (blue gloves) during UFC Fight Night at O2 Arena. | Per Haljestam-Imagn Images

“I’d f*** him up,” Strickland answered (h/t Full Mount MMA). “I think there’s a big level difference now. If you could take Anderson Silva and bring him in the modern time – every generation gets better, and better, and better. So it’s kind of one of those hard fights to say. ‘Would I beat this guy up?’ Well, yeah, naturally the sport’s getting better.”

Israel Adesanya (red gloves) and Anderson Silva (blue gloves) during UFC 234 at Rod Laver Arena. | Jasmin Frank-Imagn Images

Considered by some to be the greatest fighter in MMA history, Silva won the UFC middleweight belt in 2006 and went on to defend it a total of 10 times as part of a 16-fight win streak that began with his UFC debut and ended when he was knocked out by Chris Weidman at UFC 168.

Khamzat Chimaev Campaigning for Immediate Sean Strickland Rematch

Sports fans always love to compare athletes from different eras and how they might have fared against one another, but for now Strickland is focused on trying to make sure that his second UFC title reign lasts longer than the first one did.

Sean Strickland (red glove) fights Dricus Du Plessis (blue gloves) during UFC 297 at ScotiaBank Arena. | Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images

After relinquishing his title to du Plessis, Strickland took a split decision over Paulo Costa (who recently broke into the UFC rankings at light heavyweight) to set up a rematch with “Stillknocks” at UFC 312. That second meeting saw du Plessis win in more decisive fashion with a unanimous decision, and in between those bouts with Strickland he also submitted the division’s former two-time titleholder Adesanya.

Sean Strickland (blue gloves) celebrates after defeating Khamzat Chimaev (red gloves) during UFC 328 at Prudential Center. | John Jones-Imagn Images

Chimaev took the belt from du Plessis at UFC 319 and initially claimed he’d be moving up to light heavyweight after suffering his first loss, but now it sounds like “Borz” is all-in on trying to convince the UFC that he deserves an immediate rematch with Strickland.

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