SYDNEY – Israel Adesanya calls shenanigans on Sean Strickland’s game plan for UFC 293.
Adesanya (24-2 MMA, 13-2 UFC) defends his middleweight title against Strickland (27-5 MMA, 14-5 UFC) in Saturday’s 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+.
Strickland has been using his infamous “man dance” line when describing his strategy against Adesanya, but “The Stylebender” doubts he’ll stand and trade with him for too long.
“I hope he wrestles,” Adesanya told MMA Junkie and other reporters at Wednesday’s media day. “If not, cool – stand and bang. Do the ‘man dance,’ as you will. He’s selling wolf tickets when he talks about that, by the way. I don’t think he’s going to man dance with me, and if he does, I’m a better dancer than him.”
Adesanya is seeking his first-career submission at UFC 293. Strickland was advised by his coaches to wrestle former two-division Glory Kickboxing champ and former UFC middleweight champ Alex Pereira when they fought last July, but Strickland abandoned the game plan and ended up getting knocked out in Round 1.
While Adesanya is convinced that Strickland will mix it up this time, he wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t – and he vows it will cost him.
“I don’t want to knock him out, if that makes sense,” Adesanya said. “It’s just, 1+1 is 2, and I’m going to knock him out. I’d rather submit him to be honest. I want to submit him, but what we’ve worked on and what he does, and his ego, and his brain is just a peanut. So, 1+1 is 2, water is wet, Sean Strickland is getting slept.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 293.
