SYDNEY – Sean Strickland could get his Jared Cannonier rematch sooner than he thinks – but he’d rather not.
Strickland (27-5 MMA, 14-5 UFC) challenges middleweight champion Israel Adesanya (24-2 MMA, 13-2 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC 293 main event at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPNews/ESPN+ and early prelims on ESPN+.
Weighing in as a backup will be Cannonier (17-6 MMA, 10-6 UFC), who recently edged out Strickland by split decision in a five-round battle this past December. Strickland doesn’t often have too many nice things to say about his opponents, but he did towards Cannonier – even though he’s convinced he beat him.
“He’s a solid motherf*cker,” Strickland told MMA Junkie and other reporters at Wednesday’s media day. “I got robbed. I got 100 percent robbed. It’s so funny. After the fight, they go, ‘Sean Strickland took damage.’ Motherf*cker, I’m white and pasty.
“Cold weather damages me. You Australians know this sh*t. You could have wind come down and next thing you know, my face starts f*cking bleeding. So if that’s your metric you judge fights on, we need new judges.”
If Adesanya were to somehow not make the fight, Strickland would get an opportunity to avenge his most recent loss. But despite thinking he won their first fight, he’s not that motivated for a rematch.
“Yeah, sure – why not? I’ll fight Jared,” Strickland said. “I like the guy. You know what’s actually funny? I don’t really want to fight Jared. I like Jared. It’s kind of like there’s no desire in me that wants to try to hurt him. He’s a nice f*cking guy. Have you met Jared? He’s a nice f*cking guy.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 293.
