UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland no longer takes joy in making fun of Israel Adesanya.
During their appearances at the UFC 293 press event ahead of their world title clash in The Land Down Under, Sean Strickland repeatedly referenced a viral video of ‘The Last Stylebender’ inappropriately touching his dog on social media and accused the two-time titleholder of producing “puppy porn” in his spare time.
The comments left Adesanya fuming and he made it a point to address the situation with Strickland after the clock had ran out on their world title tilt.
“He looks at me and he’s like, ‘I would never make fun of your family’ and I’m like, ‘Dude, I don’t know your family. I don’t know if you have siblings. I don’t know f*ck about you.’ This is after the fight,” Strickland said in a video on his YouTube channel. “He starts pointing at his neck and he’s like, ‘My dog, man. My f*cking dog.’”
A month removed from his world-title-winning performance, Sean Strickland is still admittedly confused by the interaction and no longer feels comfortable making fun of Adesanya, suggesting that the ‘Stylebender’ may be suffering from some kind of mental illness.
“Bottom line, I think the guy needs some help, man,” Strickland continued. “You know when I was making fun of Khalil Rountree and then I had my epiphany like, he’s not just a beta male feminist. I realized that he might be a little mentally retarded. So that’s why I don’t make fun of him because it’s not funny anymore because now he has a f*cking problem. Now it’s like I’m making fun of a retard.
“But with Izzy, it’s starting to not be funny anymore because as I’m starting to understand Izzy and I’m starting to understand his love for his dog, peanut butter, and all, I’m starting to realize that he could have a form of mental retardation. There’s something f*cking wrong with this guy. So now, I kind of feel bad like I’m picking on the retarded kid at school that eats his boogers. It’s not funny anymore. It’s still a little funny, but…”