Israel Adesanya will look to become a three-time middleweight world champion this weekend when he challenges titleholder Dricus du Plessis in the main event of UFC 305.
But a familiar foe awaits for whoever emerges victorious in that fight.
In speaking with Jim Rome earlier in the week, Dana White already confirmed that No. 1-ranked middleweight Sean Strickland will face the du Plessis-Adesanya winner, marking a rematch either way. Strickland defeated Adesanya via unanimous decision to become the middleweight world champion in September before losing the title to du Plessis by split-decision in January.
So how do Adesanya and du Plessis feel about that news?
The Mac Life sprang the news about Strickland on Adesanya who offered: "Oh really? Nice. OK, cool."
Adesanya said "definitely" to wanting to run back a rematch with Strickland before mentioning: "I didn't think the UFC would announce it like that but I thought maybe [Robert] Whittaker vs. Khamzat [Chimaev]."
Du Plessis wouldn't mind a rematch with Strickland, either.
“I don’t mind the Strickland rematch,” du Plessis told The MMA Guru. “People are like ‘Which one would I choose,’ but I choose which one is the fight that people want to see.”
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