UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya called out his UFC 293 opponent Sean Strickland‘s insecurity during their first meeting, describing Strickland as trying too hard to be a tough guy and promising to knock him out in their upcoming match.
The UFC middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya, has been studying his opponent for UFC 293, Sean Strickland. In an attempt to understand the fighter’s psychology, Adesanya has shared his insights from their first encounter. He made some strong claims about Strickland’s character, stating, “Sean’s very insecure. You only have one first impression and if you want to be a tough guy, make it the first impression. [My] first impression: He’s a bitch.”
The two are set to go head-to-head for the middleweight title this Saturday at the main event in Sydney. Their current rivalry can be traced back to the UFC 276 press conference in July 2022. That event was marked by some tense moments as Adesanya was prepping for a main event against Jared Cannonier, while Strickland was slated to face Alex Pereira. The verbal sparring at the conference escalated before cooler heads managed to diffuse the situation. Adesanya proved successful in his bout later that night, effectively defending his title, while Strickland was knocked out in the first round.
As their paths converge for this Saturday’s bout, Adesanya remembers well the heated words of that 2022 press conference. He recalls one instance saying, “I didn’t mean to make him a bitch, I was just like, ‘Hey, what’s up buddy? How are you doing?’ He was like, ‘Oh, don’t do me like your boy [Paulo] Costa,’ and then gets on stage and was like, ‘I’ll come [down] there right now.’ That’s why when he tries to do this shit to me now, it doesn’t work.” It appears Strickland has tried to get under his skin by letting slip Adesanya’s love for anime and his habit of painting his nails. But Adesanya seems unfazed, promising to “knock him out with my painted nails.”
Adesanya isn’t just focused on winning, he plans to do it with style. He has unorthodox plans for the post-fight celebrations, including breaking his painted nails on his opponents’ face, before performing a celebratory TikTok dance. In Adesanya’s words, “I’m going to break my nails on his face. For me, the guy is insecure. I’ve dealt with him behind the cameras, he’s very insecure, comes up with a lot of stuff, but that’s a him problem not a me problem. I know who I am, and I’ve done the work on myself. I don’t give a fuck. I’ve got to knock him out, just so I can do a TikTok dance over his grave.”