Sean Strickland has a couple of unpopular opinions.
The former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Middleweight champion ended Israel Adesanya’s second title reign via a dominant unanimous decision (watch highlights) at UFC 293 in September 2023. Since then, Strickland has fought twice, losing to Dricus Du Plessis before a rebound split decision over Paulo Costa. Adesanya, on the other hand, challenged the current champion, Du Plessis, at UFC 305 and once again came up short, this time via a fourth round face crank (watch highlights).
Ultimately, the first two-fight losing streak of Adesanya’s career (24-4) can be chalked up to a simple lack of talent, according to Strickland.
“I have an unpopular opinion, you guys aren’t going to like it. I just don’t think ‘Izzy’s’ that good,” Strickland said on the Verse Us podcast (h/t MMA Fighting). “Like going into [UFC 293], I’m like, ‘I’m going to beat the f*ck out of you. You watch anime, you suck, I’m going to f*ck you up.’ Everybody is like, ‘Why would you say that about ‘Izzy?’’
“When he fought Kelvin [Gastelum], I think Kelvin sucks,” he continued. “Everyone’s like, ‘Izzy’s’ this and that.’ I’ve sparred Kelvin so many times, where I’m like, you kind of had a close fight with Kelvin — like, you’re not that f*cking good. You fought f*cking Costa. Costa was scared sh*tless of you. You f*cking blew on him, he fell asleep. ‘Izzy’s’ not that f*cking good.”
Adesanya’s war with Gastelum is widely considered one of the greatest Middleweight fights of all time. While it was the start of Adesanya’s time in the title scene, winning the interim title, Gastelum has failed to remain consistent, going 3-5 in his eight fights since (19-9, 1 no contest). Theoretically, Strickland feels the loss was the start of Gastelum’s decline, whereas his win over Adesanya is his.
“I love Kelvin. Kelvin is a standup guy,” Strickland said. “When I say you’re not that good, I’m talking about 90 percent of the [UFC] roster. I’m talking about the 10 percent of the f*cking most elite guys, that’s what I’m talking about and you’re not in that.
“When [Adesanya] fought Kelvin, I was like, ‘You let Kelvin have that close of a fight with you?’ If I fought Kelvin, Kelvin wouldn’t even touch me. It would be one of those fights where you’re like, ‘I just want this thing to f*cking end.’”
“I think I f*cked up ‘Izzy’ when he lost to me,” Strickland said. “I think that f*cked his head up a little bit. He was like, ‘This white trash motherf*cker missing half his leg comes and walks through me without struggle.’ I think that f*cked him up. I think that f*cked him up a decent amount. Not only that, but I did it from such an insulting way. Like, I was making fun of his f*cking life.”
Had Adesanya defeated Du Plessis to become a three-time champion this past weekend (Aug. 17, 2024), he’d have gotten his Strickland rematch. Instead, that now looks to be on tap for the champion.