THE UFC have been warned to keep some of Sean Strickland's controversial antics "under wraps" following his stunning title win.
The American shocked the world last week by dethroning future Hall of Famer Israel Adesanya in Australia to become king of the middleweights.
Strickland's controversial and derogatory comments on social media and in press conferences in recent years have, stunningly, endeared him to a number of MMA fans.
But former UFC Superfight champion Ken Shamrock believes the promotion would be wise to curtail his motormouth to ensure he doesn't put his foot in it.
The former WWE star recently told Inside Fighting: "To me, I think that, especially in the world of fighting, you've got all kinds of characters and you've got to be ready for them.
"It's marketing. As long as people want to hate you, or they like you, just as long as they tune in. So it doesn't matter.
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"I think [Conor] McGregor is the perfect example. He crossed the line a few times on things that were a little bit questionable, but it still raises the viewership.
"As an owner or as a person promoting fights, you want that, but you've got to be able to keep it somewhat under wraps.
"Where it's not going too far, where you're hurting people in the process. So, I don't mind it."
Shamrock, however, admits the growth of the UFC has been down to the promotion not censoring their fighters.
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He said: "I think everybody has character.
"Everybody is going to be who they're going to be, and you have to allow that to a certain point.
"Trying to make everybody go by the same rulesets when it comes to character is a mistake."
UFC president and CEO Dana White was seemingly keen on a rematch between Strickland and Adesanya in the immediate aftermath of the stunning upset.
But he appears to have had a change of opinion, saying: " I was like, ‘Yeah, the rematch sounds great.
“I saw the stupid f***ing s**t that was written by all these stupid f***ing websites.
"Never once did I say, ‘Yes, we’re going to f***ing do this rematch.’
"I said, ‘Yeah, rematch sounds – you know, we’ll see what happens.’
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"There’s obviously lots of options out there, and we’ll see what happens.
"But, yes, I’m still not opposed to an Israel rematch. We’ll see how it goes.”
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