Sean Strickland sends a message to Dricus du Plessis, shares training photo with Alex Pereira

Sean Strickland is aiming for a UFC middleweight title rematch with Dricus du Plessis and recently took to Instagram with a post-training selfie alongside Alex Pereira and Cesar Almeida to make his callout. He dared the reigning 185-pound champion to accept his challenge.

Moreover, he repeatedly referred to du Plessis as a 'Dutchman' due to the Dutch ancestry of the Afrikaner ethnic group in South Africa, of which du Plessis is a part. While the UFC has not made any official announcements regarding the next middleweight title fight, Strickland is nothing if not determined.

"@cesinha_almeida and @alexpoatanpereira ready for wars... Let's go Dutch man.. we're waiting for him to say when... it's time Dutchman"

The repeated references to du Plessis' Dutch ancestry are likely Strickland's attempts at getting under the South African's skin. Strickland is, after all, a relentless trash-talker. Furthermore, he likely wants a measure of retribution given how deeply du Plessis' trash talk cut him ahead of their previous clash.

Meanwhile, Pereira, who Strickland tagged in the Instagram photo, has also set his sights on Strickland. The Brazilian currently reigns as the UFC light heavyweight champion and is gearing up to defend his title against Khalil Rountree at UFC 307. However, he has also expressed interest in a return to middleweight.

He has been calling out du Plessis, who has shown little interest in facing Pereira at middleweight. Instead, the South African urged Pereira to remain at light heavyweight, where he vowed to meet 'Poatan' in the future.

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Dricus du Plessis doesn't appear eager to face Sean Strickland

Sean Strickland's first fight with Dricus du Plessis at UFC 297 was a closely contested affair. Some felt that Strickland had done enough to retain the middleweight belt. Unfortunately for him, du Plessis was declared the victor.

Since then, 'Tarzan' defeated Paulo Costa before calling on 'Stillknocks' to face him. However, du Plessis dismissed his rival's challenge, even claiming that his decision to sit out and wait for a title shot would not end well for Strickland.

"I don't owe Sean anything."

However, whether Strickland does end up fighting for middleweight gold isn't up to him, but to the UFC.

Check out Dricus du Plessis dismissing Sean Strickland's calls for a rematch (7:27):