Adesanya calls out ‘fat b—h’ Strickland: ‘That’s the only fight I want’

Israel Adesanya is targeting a late 2025 comeback, and the only fight he wants is Sean Strickland.

Strickland beat Adesanya and took the middleweight title off him at UFC 293. It was the start of a three fight losing spiral for “The Last Stylebender” which he has yet to pull out of. The only problem? “Tarzan” isn’t engaging with Izzy’s smack talk, which makes the New Zealand fighter curious what’s going on.

“Most likely, I’m gonna guess to mid September, October,” Adesanya told Ariel Helwani for a comeback date. “Sean. No question. He lost his last fight. I lost my fight. And it’s like, ‘Alright. Cool. Want a rematch?’”

“Easy money, bro, right?” he added. “You beat me already, handily, five nil. It’s like come on. That’s easy money. Come on.”

“I just feel like I can do better. And if he beats me at my best, I’d be like, ‘F— yeah, good game.’ And I’ll leave it at that. But I know I can do better.”

“That’s the one, that’s the only one I want,” Adesanya repeated. “But then he hasn’t responded. He probably got fat. People sent me a video of that as well. I was like, ‘Oh, s—.’ So I don’t know. Maybe he’s going through something.”

While Sean Strickland continues to be out there doing Sean Strickland things, Adesanya repeated his ‘going through something’ suspicion at the UFC Hall of Fame 2025 ceremony.

“Someone sent me a screenshot and he’s fat now,” Izzy said (via MMA Fighting). “I saw it and I was like ‘Oh s—t.’ Sean’s a guy that definitely has a lot of oldschool stuff, trauma he has to deal with. And we all go through s—t. I think for him it’s easy, he should have just said something and started roasting me or whatever. That’s what Sean Strickland would do. But he’s been quiet.”

“So Sean, it’s June, Men’s Mental Health Month. I hope you’re looking out for your mental health … and also look after your physical health. You fat b—h!”