Israel Adesanya and Sean Strickland showed a brief sign of respect toward one another after close-up footage of their face-off revealed exactly what the two middleweight stars said.
Adesanya and Strickland are set to main event UFC 293 this weekend in Sydney, Australia. The bout marks ‘The Last Stylebender’s’ first title defence of his second middleweight reign, whereas Strickland is fighting for the belt for the first time.
The two have been in a heated rivalry for a number of years. ‘Tarzan’ has often called out Adesanya for his love for Japanese anime or for painting his nails, whereas Adesanya regularly refers to Strickland’s controversial neo-Nazi past.
Despite heated exchanges and the blows they traded during UFC 293’s presser, both Israel Adesanya and Sean Strickland were caught sharing niceties during their face-off.
In footage captured up close, Adesanya revealed he genuinely liked Strickland’s hat, before ‘Tarzan’ alluded he’s only trying to get a rise out of the champion to earn more money.
“I do like your hat, I mean that.” – Adesanya
“I’m trying to get your bankroll, you know.” – Strickland
“You got paid for this fight, I’m sure.” – Adesanya
Check out the video below:
Israel Adesanya raises jet lag concerns for Sean Strickland
Israel Adesanya doesn’t believe Sean Strickland is taking jet lag as seriously as he should.
The two middleweights will collide this weekend in the main event of UFC 293. While the bout marks Strickland’s first crack at UFC gold, it is also his first fight outside of the US for over five years.
With that in mind, Adesanya spoke to TheMacLife this weekend and voiced his concern over Strickland. According to the champion, ‘Tarzan’ is seriously underestimating the effect jet lag can have on the body while fighting. He explained:
“You know, he’s actually traveling the world for the first time? It’s his first time getting a passport because of me. I’ve been traveling the world. I’ve been fighting on jet lag for years. I know how this works. I don’t think he understands. Fight Island, 8 AM, I had to fight. 3 AM, vroom, you remember, the whole f**king F1s. I’m like, we got to fight in five hours, why are you driving cars at the hotel?”
Catch Israel Adesanya’s full comments here (4:45):
