Israel Adesanya is widely regarded as one of the best middleweights in UFC history, but don’t expect former opponent Sean Strickland to sign any petitions to keep him on that list.
This past Saturday, Adesanya suffered a second consecutive loss for the first time in his MMA career when he fell by rear-naked choke submission to Dricus du Plessis in UFC 305’s main event. That fight came almost one year after Strickland dominated Adesanya over five rounds to claim the middleweight title in a stunning upset.
Despite those losses, Adesanya is still a highly revered former champion, but Strickland just doesn’t understand the hype around “The Last Stylebender.”
“I have an unpopular opinion, you guys aren’t going to like it. I just don’t think Izzy’s that good,” Strickland said on the Verse Us podcast. “So let me tell you why. Like, going into [UFC 293], I’m like, ‘I’m going to beat the f*ck out of you. You watch anime, you suck, I’m going to f*ck you up.’ Everybody is like, ‘Why would you say that about Izzy?’
“When he fought Kelvin [Gastelum], I think Kelvin sucks. Everyone’s like, ‘Izzy’s this and that.’ I’ve sparred Kelvin so many times, where I’m like, you kind of had a close fight with Kelvin — like, you’re not that f*cking good. You fought f*cking [Paulo] Costa. Costa was scared shitless of you. You f*cking blew on him, he fell asleep. Izzy’s not that f*cking good.”
Strickland said he spent significant time training with Gastelum when both fighters worked out of southern California, and ultimately clarified his feelings toward the TUF 17 winner.
“I love Kelvin. Kelvin is a standup guy,” Strickland said. “When I say you’re not that good, I’m talking about 90 percent of the [UFC] roster. I’m talking about the 10 percent of the f*cking most elite guys, that’s what I’m talking about and you’re not in that.
“When [Adesanya] fought Kelvin, I was like, ‘You let Kelvin have that close of a fight with you?’ If I fought Kelvin, Kelvin wouldn’t even touch me. It would be one of those fight where you’re like, ‘I just want this thing to f*cking end.’”
Strickland clearly didn’t see himself as an underdog heading into the fight against Adesanya and he proved that with a lopsided decision win.
He had a similar feeling about Adesanya heading into the showdown against du Plessis at UFC 305 after watching some training footage from his camp in New Zealand.
“I watched the highlight of his training and Dan Hooker, who I like, is just f*cking rag-dolling him on the ground,” Strickland said. “Rag-dolling him. Dan, he is a savage, but I will smoke you in wrestling and I will smoke you in wrestling for five rounds.
“The fact that you are taking this f*cking middleweight, world champion, and you’re just beating the living f*ck out of him everywhere.”
While his opinion on Adesanya as a fighter was clearly never very high, Strickland also believes he may have altered his future by beating him so decisively in September 2023.
The fight came a few months after Adesanya finally vanquished his greatest rival in Alex Pereira, and Adesanya ended up with Strickland as an opponent mostly because du Plessis was nursing an injury following a win over Robert Whittaker in July.
Adesanya was an overwhelming favorite, but Strickland took it to him for 25 minutes.
Strickland can’t help but wonder if that played at least some part in Adesanya’s eventual downfall against du Plessis at UFC 305.
“I think I f*cked up Izzy when he lost to me,” Strickland said. “I think that f*cked his head up a little bit. He was like, ‘This white trash motherf*cker missing half his leg comes and walks through me without struggle.’ I think that f*cked him up. I think that f*cked him up a decent amount. Not only that, but I did it from such an insulting way. Like, I was making fun of his f*cking life.”
