Later, Strickland was asked about the message he wanted his title win to send to black fans, particularly kids, who watched his victory that evening. While he admitted it was hard to choose one specific message, Strickland ultimately settled on declaring that his title victory was proof that, while it wasn’t easy, any goal is possible and can be achieved, if one is willing to rise up, work hard, and take what they want instead of waiting for it to be given.

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“I kept saying this throughout the week, throughout these interviews and media I was doing, I was like ‘What happens if this doesn’t work out? I don’t win the championship?'” Strickland said. “‘Oh, we’ll push it down the road. We’ve got to wait for a bigger moment. We’ve got to push it down the road again.’ That’s happened several times in history, and pushing it down the road results in missed opportunities that never happen. 

“And I’ve seen that way too many times as a kid growing up…They’ve seen opportunities for us pushed down the road. ‘We’re going to build it bigger to something around the corner,’ and boom, injuries. Boom, somebody else gets the opportunity in front of them. Boom, that person’s not as hot as they were before, and the timing was missing. And boom, that person you never see or hear from them again…When it’s our moment, we have to take it. That’s the message I wanted to send. That’s why I came out in the outfit that I wear. I’m not coming to be rewarded the crown and the throne, I’m here to take it. That’s what we have to do. We have to take it.”

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