“I’ve gotta get some get back. Strickland. I’m going to get it back.” Israel Adesanya had already painted a target on Sean Strickland’s back. ‘Tarzan’ defeated ‘The Last Stylebender’ fair and square back when they fought in Sydney. Ever since then, the former 2-time middleweight champion has been striving to secure a win, but instead he got himself on a 3-fight losing streak. But as the talks of the rematch between Strickland and Adesanya kept on rising, another hurdle swirled in. And that was nothing but Strickland supposedly moving to the heavyweight division. But is that really going to be a problem for the much-awaited rematch? 

Well, not really. Adesanya had already tried his luck at the light heavyweight division. It was UFC 259 that witnessed Adesanya’s move to the LHW realm to fight Jan Blachowicz. Unfortunately, the bout ended with a loss for Izzy via a unanimous decision. But Adesanya’s manager, Tim Simpson, once hinted at the Nigerian-born fighter’s desire to fight as a heavyweight. Talking to MMA Junkie in 2022, Simpson said, “He wants to go down as the greatest of all time in that division, and there’s opportunity to stay there and keep fighting. But the door’s open to light-heavyweight, even heavyweight. He’s had success at heavyweight in kickboxing, too.”

On the other hand, Strickland secured a victory via unanimous decision when he fought Nassourdine Imavov in the light heavyweight division at UFC Fight Night 217. And with the kind of muscle he has been putting on lately, the MMA realm has begun to think of Strickland as a heavyweight fighter. And his latest post on Instagram further raised the rumors about his chances in the heavyweight division. 

Taking to Instagram, ‘Tarzan’ shared a picture of himself on a hilly trail. He wore nothing but a pair of shorts. And carried a lean shotgun in his arm, with an earmuff on his head. But it wasn’t the firearm or the bright red shotgun cases that caught the fighting community’s attention. What reeled the fight fans in was the middleweight contender’s jacked-up physique. 

As soon as Strickland shared the picture on his IG profile and wrote, “#MERICA” in the caption, the fighting realm swooped down to the comments section with their opinions. Let’s take a look at what the fans had to say, shall we? 

Fight fans make a bizarre speculation regarding Sean Strickland’s next move

Most of the fans were convinced that Strickland’s huge muscles also pushed his weight beyond 205 lbs. One of the fans wrote, “Dudes moving up to heavyweight.” Another fan added, “Damn Sean . You’re looking like you’re prepping for a heavyweight fight 😂.” With Ilia Topuria and Islam Makhachev moving up in the weight categories, we can actually expect Strickland to do the same. After all, with how he looked in the picture, fans were convinced he wasn’t a middleweight anymore. One of the fans commented, “How is bro a middleweight..” 

Meanwhile, some of the fans pushed Strickland around with Jon Jones. Of course, with ‘Bones’ training Adesanya, it’s possible that ‘Tarzan’ vs ‘Stylebender’ happens in a higher weight class. But does that mean the Californian would fight Jones? That’s something that the fans wanted to know as well. One of the fans commented, “Would you fight Jon jones?” Nevertheless, the fans also wanted to see Strickland claim a win again. His last bout against Dricus Du Plessis ended in a loss. One fan wrote, “Cant wait to see you back in the win column again champ 🙌.”

And as most fans continued to talk about a heavier Strickland, some of them gave him the status of an uncle. One of the fans wrote, “fully Unc status.” Another fan further added, “Just ur regular next door uncle Sean 🔥🔥🔥.” Needless to say, things were as playful as they could get in the comments section. 

What are your thoughts on Sean Strickland as a heavyweight fighter? Who do you think would win if Strickland had a rematch with Adesanya? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.