“I’m Taking That One Personally…”: With All the Chinese Slurs Being Thrown at Him, Israel Adesanya Plans on Channeling His Inner Michael Jordan Going Into His Fight Against Sean Strickland at UFC 293

UFC Middleweight champ Israel Adesanya has his plate full at the moment. He was originally supposed to fight Dricus Du Plessis but the fight fell out when Du Plessis announced injury after UFC 290. Now, controversial UFC Middleweight fighter Sean Strickland has stepped in and he is preparing to fight Adesnaya at UFC 293, for the Middleweight title.

Since war of words is part of the game, both Adesanya and Strickland have dropped verbal shots. However, it seems there are a few things that Adesanya didn’t approve of, even in the context of a beef. He recently addressed those comments and spoke about his feelings towards Strickland.

Israel Adesanya planning to use Sean Strickland’s words ‘against him’

Adesanya might be a really friendly person to talk to initially, but when it comes to defending his title and his honor, there is very little that he won’t do. Being one of the most dominant UFC Middleweight fighters in recent history, Adesanya stands for something important – for both the promotion and himself. That is why, when Strickland made questionable comments about him, he didn’t shy away from giving him a piece of his mind.

In a recent UFC 293 presser, someone asked Adesanya if he disliked Sean Strickland. He pointed out that Strickland had been bringing up the incident where ‘Izzy’ had been carrying the Chinese flag on his back and had questioned his morals and manhood.

Adesanya said that he didn’t dislike him and he had no feelings towards most of the comments that he had made. However, he did talk about one comment that Strickland made that he took personally: “Only thing he said was one clip someone sent to me and he’s questioning my morals and like… like saying something and I was like you’ve never even had a conversation with me and you’re questioning…“

“So that one is one I’m – I just… I’m doing a Michael Jordan and I’m taking that one personally so I can use that against him,” he added, referencing the NBA legend, Michael Jordan. 

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However, he clarified that everything else that Strickland had said, didn’t bother him at all.

Strickland unleashes upon ‘Cringe-Lord’ ahead of their UFC 293 fight

Strickland didn’t have pleasant things to say about Adesanya either. At the UFC 293 press conference, Strickland also unleashed upon the Middleweight champion.

“Nobody likes f****** Izzy. He’s a f****** cringe-lord,” said Sean ‘Tarzan’ Strickland. A few days back, Adesanya opened up on his first encounter with Strickland backstage and the first impression. What ‘Izzy’ had to say about Strickland and how Strickland is talking about Adesanya are poles apart. However, Strickland didn’t stop there.

“Is he really race-baiting Dricus [Du Plessis] right now? How does this play out for you?” asked Du Plessis, suggesting that everything that Adesanya has been saying about Du Plessis and their ‘racial dispute’, was just to get a fight out of it.

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Strickland, who has been working on his ground game ahead of UFC 293, has made his fight strategy abundantly clear. He has said that he wants to ‘stand and bang’ with ‘Izzy’ although he is aware of the fact that taking the fight to the ground might just give him a win.