Israel Adesanya’s focus is unflappable going into his UFC 293 title defense with Sean Strickland, and nothing is going to throw him off.
Adesanya (24-2 MMA, 13-2 UFC) was eager to get a fight on the books for the Sept. 9 event, which takes place at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, and airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+. At first it seemed Dricus Du Plessis would be the opponent, but when the matchup didn’t materialize, Adesanya got Strickland (27-5 MMA, 14-5 UFC).
There was a short timeframe when it seemed Adesanya would not compete on the card at all, but he was pleased to come to terms with the UFC brass and get his wish to fight as close to his home of New Zealand as possible.
“I didn’t think it strained the relationship (with UFC) at all,” Adesanya told MMA Junkie on Thursday in an interview facilitated by his partners at Stake.com. “It was part of the negotiations. They listened to me when I put my case forward. Business is business. We handle business on this side, we just keep it under wraps. We keep it in-house. Families fight sometimes. Things happen. Friends fight and you come together and make it work. We got the job done in the end.”
Adesanya will enter UFC 293 with a change of roles from his previous fight. Going into his rematch with Alex Pereira at UFC 287, Adesanya was the challenger and had doubts about his ability to win after losing three times to Pereira in kickboxing and MMA.
He overcame those thoughts and naysayers with a vicious knockout win, but in this fight against Strickland, he’s a sizable betting favorite. “The Last Stylebender” is aware of the expectations, and although he doesn’t allow them to create pressure, he does intend to meet and exceed them.
“I don’t care about what people think, even though, yes, people do think I’m going to blow through this guy,” Adesanya said. “Rightfully so. Cause I will. He’s not an easy fight, but I’ll just make it look easy. He’s a hard fight, but I’ll make it look easy. I’ve made a lot of hard men look easy. Easy work. This will be no different.”
Adesanya has been the target of some personal and harsh trash talk from Strickland over the years. They had a tense verbal exchange at the UFC 276 pre-fight press conference in July 2022, which laid the foundation for this fight to eventually happen.
The talk hasn’t affected Adesanya at all, he said, but he hasn’t forgotten about it. He thinks Strickland is playing an inauthentic character, and his goal in this fight is to expose the version of Strickland he’s seen behind the scenes to the world.
“Behind the scenes, when it’s just me and him, I’ve been the locker room with him – I’ve been backstage – even last time I saw him in Vegas I smacked him in the dick,” Adesanya said. “Behind the scenes, then his public persona, people think he’s this guy. ‘He’s crazy.’ Behind the scenes he’s soft. I’m soft. I won’t even call him soft. That’s actually an insult to soft people. He’s like that idiot in the back of the class who just wants to talk, and talk over you to get his point across. Nothing in particular he’s said has gotten to me, just anytime he breathes he says some idiotic things. I kind of want to show people what happens backstage, I want to show them on the main stage, that he’s my b*tch.
“I’m a loud man when I need to be loud, but I’m very quiet and I observe. He definitely has his own insecurities and whatnot, like, ‘I’m a man and I ride a motorcycle and wear my boots and drink my beer.’ He wants to be that guy and macho, machismo. I don’t need to prove I’m a man by doing all that sh*t. I just be me, and I’ll still f*ck you up.”
Adesanya said he won’t back down from Strickland at the pre-fight press conference, but he’s anticipated a verbal onslaught from Strickland, because his best chance of getting a fight week “win” will be there, and not the fight itself.
“I’m not worried about the press conference,” Adesanya said. “I’m worried about the fight. He’s worried about the press conference, cause that’s where he thinks he’s going to shine. Last time he just caught me off guard because I wasn’t expecting to go back-and-forth with him. I also hated the fact he was sitting behind me like a retarded kid in class. I’m looking forward to the fight because that’s where it counts. I don’t give a f*ck about a press conference, but I’ve got some bars for him as well.”
When the pair do step in the octagon in Australia, Adesanya anticipates one-way traffic in his favor. He would be surprised if Strickland’s game plan doesn’t revolve around grappling, but regardless, he said there’s only one outcome to for the fight.
“I’m on a warpath, and I’m going to end this man,” Adesanya said. “He’s getting knocked out. He’s getting knocked out in this fight. But I believe his team will really try to get him to wrestle or clinch with me. He’ll get dumped on his ass and knocked out again. I don’t take him lightly because a man with everything to gain and nothing to lose is a very dangerous man. I take him very seriously, but I just know who I am and where I’m at.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 293.
