Israel Adesanya lost a unanimous decision to Sean Strickland in the main event of UFC 293, costing him the UFC middleweight title, but expressed resilience and humility in defeat, stating his intention to spend time with loved ones and rebuilding his career.
Israel Adesanya make a brief speech at the UFC 293 post-fight press conference following his defeat by Sean Strickland. He later handed over the spotlight to his head coach, Eugene Bareman. It was a particularly challenging night for Adesanya, who was put on the back foot in the main event against Strickland. He was knocked down in the opening round, but despite this, he managed to survive the onslaught lasting through all five rounds.
However, Adesanya found it difficult to establish a solid fight rhythm. Strickland came prepared with a strategic plan of attack, which allowed him to claim victory and the UFC middleweight title. After the match, Adesanya graciously acknowledged Strickland’s triumph and expressed his plans of spending time with his loved ones. In a heartfelt speech, he stated, “I had a different plan for this but again life throws curveballs at you. Win or lose, I wasn’t going to say much anyway but right now, I lost tonight to the better man on the night. I just want to go and be with people who care about me — my team and they’re waiting for me so I’m going to do that.”
Bareman then elaborated, highlighting that despite Adesanya’s loss of his title, the event was not without its victories for their team, City Kickboxing. Three of his teammates had won their matches at UFC 293 and wanted to celebrate their victories together. However, this loss put Adesanya’s fight record at 1-2 in his last three fights, following his two recent battles with longtime rival Alex Pereira with one knockout defeat followed by a victorious rematch in April. With Dricus Du Plessis out due to a foot injury, this led to Strickland getting the title shot, a chance he fully utilized by dominating the match against Adesanya.
Next on the agenda for Adesanya is a period of recovery and regrouping. After sharing a video of his injuries, showing, “it’s not that bad, nothing broken, a little touched up,” he extended his heartfelt thanks to his followers with words of wisdom saying, “Still thriving, it’s all good. I hate losing but I love living and I’m thriving. I’ll address the people but right now, I’ve got to put me first.” His focus will be to take the time to heal and prepare for a comeback in the UFC.