“I Wanted Sean to Be Here So Badly” – Fans Have a Field Day After Israel Adesanya’s Smoke Ceremony Just Days Before UFC 293

Who would have thought that UFC Middleweight champ Israel Adesanya is one for traditions? The flamboyant fighter is extremely popular among both the young and the hardcore fans of the sport for his style and his abilities, both in the ring and with the microphone. Scheduled to fight Sean Strickland at UFC 293, ‘Stylebender’ found himself partaking in an old tradition, along with others.

Adesanya has flown into Australia to prepare himself to defend his title once again. Although he would have wanted this title defense to be against Dricus Du Plessis, Sean Strickland is the fighter against whom he finds himself pitted against. He was seen being involved in a ceremony ahead of their bout, and the fans just had to share their thoughts on the matter.

Israel Adesanya partakes in a traditional Gadigal smoking ceremony ahead of UFC 293

Adesanya’s fight against Sean Strickland will be taking place at the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia, on September 9. Ahead of that fight, both fighters flew into Australia to get their preparations started. While Strickland faced some problems at the airport and was detained for about two hours, Adesanya was seen preparing for the fight – but in a more traditional manner.

A video has been going viral on social media where the Middleweight fighter can be seen alongside other fighters partaking in UFC 293, standing in a line in front of a barrel with smoke coming out of it. One by one the fighters approached the smoke and proceeded to, in a manner of speaking, cleanse or baptize themselves with the smoke.

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According to sources, this is an old tradition of the Gadigal people of the Eora nation, of welcoming visitors into their native land. The ceremony took place at the Barangaroo Reserve. Sean Strickland, however, was nowhere to be seen. However, it was heartwarming to see ‘Stylebender’ partake in such an old custom – for the people and for himself.

Fans react to Adesanya being involved in the smoking ceremony as Sean Strickland missing

The fans were both amused and shocked to see Israel Adesanya partaking in a traditional smoking ceremony in Australia. They immediately took to the comment section to share their thoughts on Adesanya being involved in the ceremony so deeply. However, most of the comments were sarcastic.

“It’s nice to see Izzy embracing other cultures. I’d love to see him do the dragon dance from his own,” joked one fan as another joined him and commented saying, “USADA has entered the comments.” “Isn’t Izzy African?” questioned another fan. 

One fan joked mentioning Nate Diaz and said that the ceremony was actually being held by the former UFC fighter. “Nate Diaz isn’t fighting in 293 but holding a private smoking ceremony in support,” he said. One fan directly fired shots at Adesanya. “Izzy really childish man. Comic boy“, read his comment. 

Poking fun at the time when Israel Adesanya said that he has Chinese roots and proceeded to bear the Chinese flag on his back, one fan commented saying, “Ancient Chinese tradition“. Some of the comments from the fans were regarding Sean Strickland as well, who was seen missing from the ceremony. “Can’t wait till @strickland_mma_ sees this.“. They seemed pretty confident of the fact that Strickland would have a lot to say about this new video of Adesanya. “I wanted Sean to be here so badly“, added another person.

Nevertheless, Adesanya is someone who takes pride in his own customs and traditions. A few jibes from fans are not likely to affect the champion. Basking in the contentment from these rituals, Adesanya will look to add another feather to his cap with a win over Strickland this weekend. Can he prevail?

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