Although many consider Israel Adesanya to be the greatest middleweight champion in UFC history, Strickland begs to differ. As a former champion himself and one of the few men who can say they’ve beaten ‘The Last Stylebender’, there is even some credibility to his argument. In fact, when Strickland did face Adesanya in the octagon, the New Zealand native looked like a fish out of water.
The American’s Philly shell defense and constant forward pressure made it hard for Adesanya to get going. Eventually, Strickland successfully beat the champion in what was a very one-sided contest.
In a recent interview with Eric Nicksnick on the Verse Us podcast, Strickland insisted that Izzy is not as great as people make him out to be, saying,
“Everyone’s like Izzy is this and that….like you’re not that f*cking good, like you’re not that f*cking good.”
Sean Strickland doesn’t believe Adesanya is a good fighter :
“Everyone’s like Izzy is this and that. I’ve sparred Kelvin (Gastelum) so many times, where I’m like you kind of had a close fight against Kelvin, like you’re not that fucking good, like you’re not that fucking… pic.twitter.com/TU2xLrwAdl
— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) August 20, 2024
Sean Strickland’s entire argument is that ‘The Last Stylebender’ did not face good opponents in his title run, and when he did, he lost to them. The American does not think Adesanya is a part of the upper echelon, the elite fighters of the UFC because of how he struggled against even ‘mediocre’ opponents.
Well, Strickland won’t be focused on ‘Izzy’ anymore, as his sole focus is now on Dricus Du Plessis and securing the title shot next.
Strickland warns Du Plessis that he will not be able to duck him
Strickland is out for blood, he wants revenge against Du Plessis. The last time the pair fought, the American lost via a controversial split decision. Now, the American wants to remove all doubts to the side by defeating the South African once and for all. He even called out the champion on X saying,
“We will be fighting in the land of the free… You’re not ducking me Dutch man……… I know you’re going to try…. it’s not happening….. Dana white “you’re next in line” Were bringing it back to America and the belt is staying back in America!”
We will be fighting in the land of the free… You’re not ducking me Dutch man……… I know you’re going to try…. it’s not happening…..
Dana white “you’re next in line”
Were bringing it back to America and the belt is staying back in America!
— Sean Strickland (@SStricklandMMA) August 18, 2024
Sean Strickland also claimed that the fight would take place in the United States and not South Africa as Du Plessis wanted it. The South African champion wants to defend his title in front of his home crowd and bring the UFC to Africa for the first time.
