With a grudge match against arch-rival, Dricus du Plessis on skids, undisputed middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya has now called for a UFC 293 title showdown with the surging, Sean Strickland on September 9. in Sydney, Australia.
Adesanya, the current and two-time undisputed middleweight champion, managed to return to the Octagon in triumphant fashion at UFC 287 back in April in Miami, Florida – defeating enemy, Alex Pereira in a second round knockout rematch win.
And off the back of is title win, Adesanya was earmarked to headline UFC 293 in September in a return to Australia for the Dana White-led organization, taking on newly-minted number one ranked contender, du Plessis, however, claims the South African is dealing with a foot injury, and has now called for a pairing with the outspoken, Strickland.
“I don’t even know how to start this, but Dricus du P*ssy (Dricus du Plessis), you f*cking b*tch,” Israel Adesanya said in a video posted on his Twitter account. “‘Oh, all he had to do was put on some gloves; I was ready to go again.’ No, you weren’t. You’re a b*tch. That’s why you’re not taking this fight. Your foot is sore. My knee was jacked for my last fight. Guess what I did? I showed up because that a f*cking champion does. Championship calibre, built different.”
“I lot of fighters talk about, ‘I’ll fight anyone, anywhere anytime,’” Israel Adesanya explained “No, you won’t. I do. Alex Volkanovski does. We’re built different. I’m at the gym right not about to get some work. I’m fighting in Sydney. I don’t give a f*ck who. D*ckless du P*ssy, f*ck off. You’re out. (Sean) Strickland, you’re in. Let’s do the man dance. Show you how to really dance. Yeah, I’m tired of all you guys talking sh*t about, ‘I can fight, I can fight.’ No, you can’t. du P*ssy. B*tch.”
Israel Adesanya and Sean Strickland are on a collision course of UFC 293
And according to mixed martial arts reporter, Ariel Helwani, du Plessis is, in fact, likely to miss a clash with Adesanya in September, revealing Stickland is the current frontrunner to fight the City Kickboxing staple ‘Down Under’ for championship gold.
“It’s not quite official but pretty close at this point that Dricus du Plessis will not be able to fight Israel Adesanya at UFC 293 on Sept. 9 in Sydney,” Helwani tweeted. “He was banged up going into the Robert Whittaker, fight and that turnaround is just too soon, I’m told. It that ends up being the case, and Israel Adesanya stays on the car, which is his desire, it’ll be Adesanya x Sean Strickland for the middleweight title on 9/9.”
Off the back of a recent stoppage win over the highly-touted, Abusupiyan Magomedov, Strickland added the Russian-born middleweight to a recent unanimous decision win over Nassourdine Imavov back in January in an impromptu light heavyweight pairing.