“He can get it after I win my belt back,” Sean Strickland crushed down hopes on a Robert Whittaker bout. That hasn’t stopped the latter from making appeals at a shot against Strickland. As Strickland’s UFC Houston bout edges closer, Whittaker is once again the talk of the MMA fanbase. But Strickland has silenced that noise with a snarky comment.

One of the spiciest stories inside the middleweight division has to be the back-and-forth between Strickland and Whittaker, despite never having hit the Octagon together. After a 2-fight losing skid, Whittaker called out Strickland last year, who shut down those appeals in a blink. Now, Strickland is ready to explain his stance.

Sean Strickland throws verbal jabs at Robert Whittaker

Appearing on the Jon Bernard Kairouz podcast, Sean Strickland pulled no punches as he argued why Robert Whittaker wasn’t the right choice for his career trajectory.

“I don’t want Whittaker,” he stated. “It doesn’t do anything. I beat Whittaker. There’s no title shot ahead of that.”

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Further, justifying the bout with Anthony Hernandez, Strickland added, “Good thing about Fluffy, guy’s on like a 50 fight winning streak. You’re next in line. He’s like the American Chimaev, or like, that’s the fight.”

Indeed, with ‘Fluffy’s 8-fight win streak and a terrifying cage persona, he is rapidly rising as the division’s hottest new threat. Punctuating that momentum would land Strickland back in title conversations.

Whittaker, on the other hand, is a tested veteran whose best years are behind him. Winning against someone with 27-9 in pro MMA doesn’t sound as exciting as someone with only two career losses and a rising persona.

“It’s like the girl at the party, everybody’s f–ked and you’re just like, you know, like maybe if 3am hits, there’s nobody left. I might, I might try it,” Strickland explained the sarcastic analogy.

“Whittaker’s body count’s too high.”

That’s not something Strickland is looking for at this point in his career, where one win or loss could define where he’s headed next in the division. With some people already arguing over Strickland’s fading relevance, especially after a disheartening loss against DDP in the duology, Strickland needs to make a statement with his win in the Houston Fight Night. Looks like he’s already taking active steps to flip around his UFC fate.

Sean Strickland’s UFC Houston corner back in action

The bout against Dricus du Plessis yielded numerous takeaways and areas for Strickland to work on. However, it also created a sour rift between Strickland and his head coach, Eric Nicksick, raising uncertainty about them ever working together again. That said, it appears the pair has worked on the miscommunications, turning the page on their differences.

In fact, the duo is set to finish what they started, as Nicksick quoted, with the head coach back at Strickland’s corner for Houston Fight Night. Talking to MMA Fighting, Nicksick lifted the curtains on their mended relationship, as he went over the fight strategy that Strickland will employ against one of middleweight’s biggest threats.

“Dricus took us down, we would hit the switch, and then we would disengage. I was kind of wanting some more ride time cause Sean’s top side pressure is really, really good,” Nicksick opined on UFC 312, drawing from the bout. “So I think, in this fight, being able to nullify some of those takedowns, but also be able to get our own ride time and then with our own solid ground up pound [is very important].”

Looks like the duo is back at it together as they vie for the title shot conversations. The real question is: Will Sean Strickland be able to reclaim his champion status and turn his UFC fate for good? Let us know your take in the comments.