MMA fighter Sean Strickland expects to win over the crowd in his forthcoming match against Israel Adesanya at UFC 293 in Australia, despite his opponent’s home advantage, and asserts the main reason for this confidence is his distaste for Adesanya’s personality, and he has spent much of his training focusing on wrestling and grappling techniques.
Sean Strickland may be the challenger when he faces Israel Adesanya, the current UFC Middleweight champion, in the latter’s home country at UFC 293 in Australia. However, Strickland is confident that he could sway the crowd favor towards his side. His confidence emanates from his negative opinion about Adesanya’s persona, especially his demeanor outside the cage. Strickland openly expressed his distaste for Adesanya’s conduct during interviews, his appearances at pre-fight press conferences, and even his choice of nail polish. He further implied that his viewpoint regarding Adesanya is shared by many others.
Strickland made his resentment for Adesanya clear during the UFC 293 media day, exclaiming that almost everything about Adesanya, whom he disapprovingly addressed as “Izzy,” irritates him. He highlighted the incident when Adesanya appeared to provoke Dricus Du Plessis during a press conference and questioned how everyone was okay with it. According to Strickland, Adesanya’s behaviour is too off-putting, making it easy for others to mock him. The thought of discussing Adesanya was so troubling for Strickland that he even expressed feeling unclean as a result.
Although their fight is a few days away, Strickland and Adesanya’s first face-to-face encounter since their confrontational meeting at UFC 276’s pre-fight press conference, is highly anticipated. Despite the controversy surrounding these pre-fight antics, Strickland insists that his main focus is ultimately on the fight. He securely guarantees that demonstrating his fighting skills is what really counts. Strickland praised his own combat skills, which he feels are often overlooked due to his frequent verbal bouts.
During his training, Strickland focused on improving his wrestling and grappling capabilities to combat Adesanya, who is renowned for his striking skills. However, he pointed out a pattern from his past encounter with Alex Pereira, against whom he had a similar strategy but ended up being knocked out in the first round. He further acknowledged the difficulties he might face while trying to wrestle with Adesanya. As per Strickland, his personal satisfaction from his upcoming fight lies more in the paycheck rather than the prestige of UFC title. He reasons his stance by saying, “It’s just a fight. It’s just fun”.