June 29, 2025. Tuff-N-Uff, Luis Hernandez submitted Miles Hunsinger. But things went awfully wrong when Hernandez taunted his opponent’s corner. Enraged by the taunt, Sean Strickland, Hunsinger’s coach and cornerman, along with his fellow MMA star, Chris Curtis, jumped into the cage and engaged in a physical altercation with Hernandez. As a result, the Nevada State Athletic Commission suspended ‘Tarzan’ till a disciplinary hearing decides on Strickland’s punishment. As a part of their disciplinary measures, the NSAC extended the former UFC champion’s suspension till August. And now, Strickland has no choice but to turn away from the UFC for the time being. 

According to Happy Punch, Sean Strickland reacted to the suspension and stated, “Yeah man dark days indeed. Anyone wanna have an exhibition boxing match?” The statement would attract fighters from Conor McGregor’s part-owned Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship to call the former UFC middleweight champion out for an exhibition boxing match. Taking to Instagram, Jake Botswick, a bare-knuckle boxer who scored a KO in just 53 seconds into his fight against Leonel Carrera at BKFC 78, offered himself up to Strickland for the exhibition boxing match. 

The English bare-knuckle fighter said, “Sean Strickland, what’s good, son? So, I heard that you’re looking for an exhibition boxing match. Well, I can definitely be your man. I fight for BKFC. I’m a bare-knuckle boxer. But I can box, mate. I’ll give you a good run for your money. All business, of course. But if you fancy a dance, let me know what’s good, bruv.” 

We’re still waiting for Sean Strickland to send a reply to the BKFC star. There’s just one caveat – exhibition matches also require approvals and must be sanctioned. If the NSAC suspends an athlete, it’s highly unlikely that the Association of Boxing Commissions will sanction a fight involving the said athlete. In the case of Chael Sonnen’s 2-year NSAC suspension for failing drug tests, he was unable to compete anywhere in the US. Nevertheless, we already have a viable opponent for Strickland once he comes out of his indefinite suspension. 

Israel Adesanya wants a rematch against Sean Strickland

Despite being the underdog at UFC 293, Sean Strickland won the match against Israel Adesanya via a unanimous decision and took his middleweight championship belt. The Kiwi former 2-time middleweight champion wants to make things right with a rematch. ‘The Last Stylebender’, in a previous conversation with David Goggins, claimed that Strickland was the embodiment of the bullies that he faced as a child. And since he actually got bullied at UFC 293, Adesanya wants some payback. 

Recently, during a discussion with the reigning featherweight champ, Alexander Volkanovski, Adesanya joked about Strickland’s weight gain and continued to call for a rematch. He stated, “I’ve called this dude out how many times, but now he wants to fight Belal [Muhammad]. Why? I mean, it’s easy money. Come on, it’s easy money. You beat me once, do it again. Come on… I just wanna make sure I did this right. I just want to do this one time, just one more time. You beat me? Cool. If he wants to do a third one, we’ll see.”

For now, the rematch between Israel Adesanya and Sean Strickland will have to wait till the Xtreme Couture associate’s NSAC suspension is over. But what do you want? Do you want to witness an exhibition fight between Strickland and Botswick? Or do you want the rematch between Adesanya and ‘Tarzan’?