New UFC champion Strickland tapes up belt after breaking it within hours of win
UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland had to use sellotape to fix his world title belt just hours after pulling off one of the upsets of the year.
The wildly popular fighter, who has admitted to previously identifying as a neo-nazi, was a monstrous underdog priced at almost 4/1 to beat legendary champion Israel Adesanya on Saturday night at UFC 293 in Sydney. But after dropping his rival in the first, Strickland ended up cruising to a relatively comfortable points win.
However, he clearly celebrated his victory a little too well as he arrived home with one of the side plates of the belt hanging from its leather strap. Strickland then took to social media to share his solution - putting tape over the valuable gold that makes up the sport's biggest prize.
"Hey guys, I already broke my belt," he told his 602,000 Instagram followers last night in a video where he can be seen in a room full of firearms. After showing off the issue, he then added tape to cover the problem, before placing the belt around his waist and declaring: "But, I have a solution - Good as new!"
Strickland had appeared to be a divisive figure in the build-up to his fight with Adesanya, and was almost deemed too controversial to take the place of original challenger Dricus Du Plessis. But he showed massive fan support after the promotion ended up drafting him in and despite a huge underdog tag, he shocked the world with a massive win over the champion.
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It is expected that an immediate rematch will be made between the pair, although a clash later this month at UFC 294 between Khamzat Chimaev and Paolo Costa could impact plans. Strickland is known to be an active fighter, and insists that he only fights to "fund his hobby of training".
Were you surprised by Sean Strickland winning the UFC middleweight title on Saturday night? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
“Goddamn, dude. I feel like the guy didn’t even try,” Strickland told the media after his win. “There were times where he was throwing punches and I was like, ‘Am I fighting an amateur, right now? What the f*** is going on?’ But yeah, I think I run my mouth a lot and people forget I can fight. But here we are, you guys. You’re going to have to talk to me a bit longer. Sorry about that.
“You know, I thought I was going to be leaving with a concussion but I feel relatively fine other than a few bumps and bruises. The game plan was to wrestle, you guys. We wrestled all camp. But when you’re a little autistic, you just do what you do. I think I’m one of the best strikers in the world.
"Any time you’re doing the ‘man dance,’ you’re one punch away from being knocked out. But I could spar with any world champion boxer and get the better of them. I don’t know, man. I just think I’m one of the best strikers in the world.”
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