UFC 293, which will mark the promotion’s latest stop in Australia, is just a few days away. That means it’s time for another round of predictions from the B/R…
UFC 293, which will mark the promotion’s latest stop in Australia, is just a few days away. That means it’s time for another round of predictions from the B/R…
Currently occupied by a title defense opposite Sean Strickland this weekend at UFC 293, undisputed middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya has now distanced himself firmly from a title outing with Dricus du Plessis, questioning the South African’s claim to a challenge. Adesanya, a two-time and current undisputed middleweight champion under the banner of the promotion, returns […]
Currently occupied by a title defense opposite Sean Strickland this weekend at UFC 293, undisputed middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya has now distanced himself firmly from a title outing with Dricus du Plessis, questioning the South African’s claim to a challenge.
However, prior to Strickland’s involvement in his premier title fight under the promotion’s scrutiny, Adesanya was expected to fight opposite the newly-minted number one contender, du Plessis.
Landing atop the rankings pile at UFC 290 back in July, Pretoria native, du Plessis stopped former champion and common-opponent, Robert Whittaker with a blistering second round TKO, however, a lingering foot injury ruled him from a quickfire turnaround with Adesanya.
Israel Adesanya unsure on title fight with Dricus du Plessis after UFC 293
And recently playing up the fact that du Plessis may now have missed out on his chance to challenge him, Adesanya, who has been conflicting in his thoughts on a future pairing, stressed that it may not come in the foreseeable future.
“I don’t know – you have to ask Dana (White),” Israel Adesanya told assembled media ahead of UFC 293. “Dricus (du Plessis), doesn’t know how to play the game. Look, you can’t sit on your f*cking – is it ranking or whatever? And you think you’ve got it locked in.”
“This is the UFC, if you look back at the history of the UFC, sh*t happens, you know,” Israel Adesanya explained. “So he thought he was sitting pretty, but he might have to fight two more times before he gets a shot at this.”
Adesanya’s claims follow suit of recent suggestions from his City Kickboxing head coach, Eugene Bareman, how du Plessis may have, in fact, missed his call for a title siege, while UFC leader, White also stressed how he was not a fan of fighters apparently turning down quick turnarounds.
Would you like to see Israel Adesanya fight Dricus du Plessis next?
In a rather awkward coming together of the two on the stage ahead of this weekend’s UFC 293 middleweight title fight, defending champion, Israel Adesanya, and challenger, Sean Strickland shared a rather strange face-off, in brief fashion to boot after a heated press conference. Adesanya, the current undisputed middleweight champion and two-time division gold holder, […]
In a rather awkward coming together of the two on the stage ahead of this weekend’s UFC 293 middleweight title fight, defending champion, Israel Adesanya, and challenger, Sean Strickland shared a rather strange face-off, in brief fashion to boot after a heated press conference.
Adesanya, the current undisputed middleweight champion and two-time division gold holder, makes his return to Sydney, Australia – attempting to defend his title against surging challenger, Strickland.
Making is first walk inside the Octagon in a championship fight, Strickland rides a two-fight winning run over Nassourdine Imavov, and Abusupiyan Magomedov into the title affair.
Throwing a heap of barbs toward City Kickboxing mainstay, Adesanya amid his apparent allegiance with China during his kickboxing career, Strickland predicted the Nigerian-Kiwi would swear his allegiance to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) if he wins this weekend.
Defending his teammate Kai Kara-France on stage after flyweight contender, Manel Kape fired a Monster energy water bottle in his direction into the crowd, Adesanya and the Portuguese striker shared a war-of-words on stage, with Adesanya vowing to “bury” Kape if he continued to target Kara-France, referring to him as a “midget”.
Furthermore, Strickland poked fun at the apparent inappropriate touching of Adesanya’s dog by the undisputed middleweight champion, leading to a massive reception from the attending crowd at this morning’s press event – in his bid to get under the skin of the titleholder.
Sean Strickland accuses Israel Adesanya of race-baiting in the past
Criticizing prior actions from Adesanya, outspoken Covina native, Strickland claimed once he won middleweight gold, he would not be wearing a dog collar, and would not paint his nails – akin to Adesanya, whilst also accusing him of race-baiting South African contender, Dricus du Plessis during their July staredown after his UFC 290 win.
Once the verbals were set aside, however, Strickland and Adesanya shared the stage for a rather awkward more than tense staredown, with the defending champion briefly clutching his title before handing it back to a UFC official, and then complimenting Strickland’s choice of hat he wore to the event.
Who wins at UFC 293: Israel Adesanya or Sean Strickland?
Mixing up his recent wardrobe inside the Octagon, undisputed middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya is set to don a pair of red shorts inside the cage for the first time this weekend at UFC 293 – ahead of his title fight with challenger, Sean Strickland. Adesanya, the incumbent and two-time undisputed middleweight champion under the Dana […]
Mixing up his recent wardrobe inside the Octagon, undisputed middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya is set to don a pair of red shorts inside the cage for the first time this weekend at UFC 293 – ahead of his title fight with challenger, Sean Strickland.
Adesanya, the incumbent and two-time undisputed middleweight champion under the Dana White-led banner, headlines the promotion’s return to Sydney, Australia – taking on Strickland over the course of five rounds at the Qudos Bank Arena.
Sidelined since he headlined UFC 287 back in April, Adesanya managed to scoop the middleweight title for the second time in his promotional tenure on that occasion, recording a stunning second round KO win over common-foe, Alex Pereira in the pair’s fifth outing in combat sports.
Israel Adesanya is set to debut red shorts inside the Octagon at UFC 293
On that occasion, Adesanya wore a pair of blue compression shorts for his championship challenge – due to the fact he would be competing in the blue corner as a challenger. And ahead of this weekend’s walk, which Adesanya will make secondly, and to the red corner, the City Kickboxing staple is set to wear red shorts for the first time inside the Octagon.
“Stylebender’s (Israel Adesanya) rocking red in the Octagon for the first time Saturday #UFC293,” UFC posted on their official X account.
Managing to strike gold whilst sporting blue shorts against Pereira, Adesanya would wear a pair of green, champion-themed compression shorts for his UFC 281 title defense against the Brazilian in November of last year at Madison Square Garden, suffering a fifth round TKO loss to the Sao Paulo knockout ace.
Undisputed middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya had teased a potential submission win over Sean Strickland at UFC 293 this weekend in Sydney, Australia – and ahead of their title showdown, the City Kickboxing staple has shown off a clearly well-drilled mounted guillotine choke attempt. Adesanya, the current and two-time undisputed middleweight champion, is slated to headline […]
Undisputed middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya had teased a potential submission win over Sean Strickland at UFC 293 this weekend in Sydney, Australia – and ahead of their title showdown, the City Kickboxing staple has shown off a clearly well-drilled mounted guillotine choke attempt.
Adesanya, the current and two-time undisputed middleweight champion, is slated to headline UFC 293 this weekend at the Qudos Bank Arena in his return ‘Down Under’ – taking on Strickland.
Last time out, the Nigerian-Kiwi striker headlined a pay-per-view event against common-foe, Alex Pereira in April, avenging a November loss to his Brazilian common-foe with a spectacular second round KO victory in Miami, Florida.
As for Strickland, the surging contender most recently wrapped up his second straight win back in July, securing a second round TKO stoppage win against the highly-touted, Abusupiyan Magomedov in a main event clash.
The victory came following a January decision win over prospect, Nassourdine Imavov in a unanimous decision win at the light heavyweight limit.
“What do I want in my career? Submission – I definitely want a submission,” Israel Adesanya said. “It might be [in] this fight [against Sean Strickland]. “I know he’s going to wrestle. He’d be dumb not to, so I know he’s going to mix it up.”
“He’s doing this whole thing, ‘Oh, man dance, man dance’ – he’s going to crotch sniff, that’s what he’s going to do,” Israel Adesanya explained. “I mean, he’s got smart coaches and they’ll definitely beat it [a wrestling approach] into him. I know they’ve been talking about it, and he’s like, ‘What, crotch sniff? I’m gonna box.’ He’s gonna box with me. The (Alex) Pereira fight I told him, ‘Focus on your job ‘cause he’s gonna knock you out.’ What did he do? He knocked him out, because he wasn’t focused on his job, he was focused on me. But, yeah, he’s gonna crotch sniff, but I get down too. So it’s whatever.”
Israel Adesanya shows off his grappling ability ahead of UFC 293