Dana White: Sean Strickland deserves title shot after UFC 305

Dana White has declared the next middleweight title challenger to face the UFC 305 winner.

LAS VEGAS – It appears the winner of Saturday’s middleweight title fight already has another fight penciled in beyond UFC 305.

Promotion CEO Dana White indicated Tuesday during an interview with “The Jim Rome Show” that either [autotag]Dricus Du Plessis[/autotag] or Israel Adesanya, whoever holds championship gold next week, will face [autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag] next.

White reiterated his statement hours later during a Dana White’s Contender Series 67 post-fight news conference Tuesday at the UFC Apex.

“He’s ranked No. 1 in the world,” White told MMA Junkie and other reporters. “He deserves the fight if that happens. But you never know what can happen and how these fights can play out. … Strickland deserves it.”

Strickland (29-6 MMA, 16-6 UFC) defeated Adesanya (24-3 MMA, 13-3 UFC) to win middleweight gold in September, which he later lost to Du Plessis (21-2 MMA, 7-0 UFC) in January. Strickland bounced back with a split decision win over Paulo Costa in June and publicly stated he would not fight again until the UFC offered him a title fight.

Du Plessis and Adesanya meet Saturday at RAC Arena in Perth, Australia in the UFC 305 main event. Neither Du Plessis nor Adesanya have competed since their fights against Strickland.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for DWCS 67.