Title on the line or not, Israel Adesanya wants to set the record straight with Sean Strickland.
Adesanya (24-4 MMA, 13-4 UFC) lost his middleweight belt in shocking fashion to Strickland back in 2023, and hasn’t been able to rematch him since. When the former champ got the opportunity to win his title back in August, it came against Dricus Du Plessis, as he had taken the belt from Strickland months prior.
Well, looking to continue fighting after his failed attempt to recapture the title, Adesanya wants to get his hands on Strickland before it’s all said and done.
“Strickland, definitely. That fight was not me,” Adesanya said on the JRE MMA Show. “Again, I don’t make excuses … (Dave Chappelle) said something like, ‘When it’s your time, you have to know and be humble enough when it’s someone else’s.’ That was just his week, and his, and everything. So it’s his time, let him have it, but I definitely know what I can do.
“I took his best shots, and I just know I can take this guy. I know what I can do. Not similar to the Pereira one where I was winning, but this one, I definitely know what I can do with this guy.”
Adesanya is convinced that his best version beats Strickland’s best version. He just didn’t show up when they met in 2023.
As of now, Strickland has yet to be officially booked for a fight, but it’s expected that he rematches Du Plessis next. Depending on the result, the potential rematch with Strickland could be very close or far away for Adesanya.
“We’ll see what happens with him and DDP,” Adesanya said. “He could win, beat him, it was close (the first time). That was a rough fight. We’ll see. We’ll see what happens in that fight. Look, I kind of like the feeling of not knowing because sometimes people ask, ‘Who are you going to fight next? When are you going to fight next?’ I don’t know. I’m just chilling. I’m just going to keep training.”
