“His body of work is great” – Israel Adesanya’s coach confirms Sean Strickland is a worthy contender for a title fight
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Eugene Bareman, coach of middleweight champion Israel Adesanya believes top middleweight contender Sean Strickland is just a win away from fighting for the title.
While Israel Adesanya is lapping around the middleweight division and looking for new blood to contest for the title. Sean Strickland is a rising contender who is yet to face “The Last Stylebender” in his career. Izzy is now scheduled to fight Jared Cannonier in a middleweight title fight while Strickland will take on former nemesis of the champ, Alex Pereira.
Eugene Bareman, head coach of City KickBoxing believes Sean is more worthy of a title shot than Pereira who has a lot of hype behind him. In a recent interview with Submission Radio, Eugene spoke about Israel’s future in the 185 division and possible contenders when he beats Cannonier at UFC 276. Izzy and Strickland will fight on the same card next month.
“Would be nice for Strickland to win,” said Izzy’s coach in the interview with Submission Radio. “Strickland’s body of work is good enough to fight for a title while if Pereira wins he still has to do more work.” Pereira is only two fights into the UFC and is already fighting for a potential title contender fight.
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“The only reason I say Strickland is because if he wins that’s a really clear-cut contender. But if Pereira wins, it is like you have beaten only one guy, you gotta beat some more,” said Eugene on why Strickland is more likely to be the next title contender.
Strickland is currently on a six-fight winning streak and has been undefeated as a middleweight fighter. Sean is currently ranked #4 and has wins over top fighters like Uriah Hall and Jack Hermansson in the division. The middleweight division is in a tricky place right now as Jared and Strickland are the only top-five contenders that the champ has not beaten. A win over Cannonier in July surely puts things to question for Izzy and his camp.
Sean, on the other hand, is climbing up to the top of the division with dominant wins in the octagon. Do you think Strickland could be next if both he and Izzy get a win next week? Watch Eugene’s interview below:
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Prateek Athanur
(2944 Articles Published)