SYDNEY – Dana White thinks Israel Adesanya just didn’t look like himself at UFC 293, but he can’t quite put his finger on what it was.
In the middleweight main event, Adesanya (24-3 MMA, 13-3 UFC) lost his middleweight title to Sean Strickland (28-5 MMA, 15-5 UFC) by unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-46) in an all-time title upset. Israel looked like he was in slow motion,” White told reporters including MMA Junkie after the event. “He looked like he couldn’t get off. He looked like he was really stiff tonight. He looked very slow. … Only Israel knows what’s going on. I’m very curious to see what he says at this press conference tonight.
“There are a million things that could go wrong. Some days you wake up and you’re just not there, man. It’s just not there. He looked bone-dry tonight, standing up really tall. He looked very slow. He looked like he couldn’t get off at all. Even in the fifth round when everybody knew he needed a knockout to win the fight, there was no sense of urgency to try to finish the fight. So I don’t know if he’s hurt or if tonight’s the night.”
