Sean Strickland has let loose on Israel Adesanya during UFC 293’s press conference. ‘Tarzan’ called out the middleweight champion for his public feud with his ex partner and the viral video of the champ with his dog from earlier this year.
Strickland and Adesanya are set to main event this weekend’s pay-per-view in Sydney, Australia. The bout marks Adesanya’s first title defence in his second run as the champ, whereas Strickland is fighting for UFC gold for the first time.
Ahead of their fight, both Israel Adesanya and Sean Strickland were in attendance for the highly anticipated press conference. The challenger then lived upto his controversial and outspoken namesake by exploding into an explicit rant directed towards the champ.
Strickland, who donned an Australian cowboy hat and pro-USA t-shirt, stood up in front of the masses and called out Adesanya in an attempt to get into his head. ‘Tarzan’ stated:
“He wears a shirt to sh*t on his ex-girlfriend. This is the kind of champion we have and it’s a god d*amn shame. Listen guys, let me stand up for this. When I was younger, I went through some traumatic sh*t….As a man, I am a better man for it. I live a good life and do good things. I’m not jerking my f*cking dog off, swearing allegiance to China and sh*tting on my ex-girlfriend. Again man, people can change, I have f*cking repented, god d*amn I’m proud as f*ck of who I am, are you proud of who you are?”
Catch Strickland’s comments here (25:30):
Israel Adesanya dismisses narrative Sean Strickland will be an ‘easy’ fight
Israel Adesanya has revealed he’s taking the bout against Sean Strickland as serious as any other fight in his career.
‘The Last Stylebender’ will take on ‘Tarzan’ in UFC 293’s main event this weekend. Adesanya is currently set to open as a -670 favorite for the bout, with many expecting a routine victory for the champion.
Israel Adesanya, however, disagrees with the notion that he will walk through Sean Strickland. Speaking to the media, the Nigerian New Zealander revealed that he feels as though he himself is the underdog.
Adesanya explained:
“I don’t listen to those voices. I hear people say, ‘The odds are this… I’m putting my parlay on you.’ Man f**k your parlay, I put my life on this s**t. I don’t listen to those voices. I look at myself as the underdog in this fight. I don’t even know where my belt is at. This is not even my belt, I don’t give a f**k. I just want to beat people up.”
Check out Izzy’s comments here (6:00):