Sean Strickland has a few unpopular opinions.
The previous Final Combating Championship (UFC) Middleweight champion ended Israel Adesanya’s second title reign through a dominant unanimous choice (watch highlights) at UFC 293 in September 2023. Since then, Strickland has fought twice, dropping to Dricus Du Plessis earlier than a rebound cut up choice over Paulo Costa. Adesanya, then again, challenged the present champion, Du Plessis, at UFC 305 and as soon as once more got here up brief, this time through a fourth spherical face crank (watch highlights).
Finally, the primary two-fight dropping streak of Adesanya’s profession (24-4) may be chalked as much as a easy lack of expertise, in line with Strickland.
“I’ve an unpopular opinion, you guys aren’t going to love it. I simply don’t suppose ‘Izzy’s’ that good,” Strickland mentioned on the Verse Us podcast (h/t MMA Combating). “Like going into [UFC 293], I’m like, ‘I’m going to beat the f*ck out of you. You watch anime, you suck, I’m going to f*ck you up.’ Everyone is like, ‘Why would you say that about ‘Izzy?’’
“When he fought Kelvin [Gastelum], I feel Kelvin sucks,” he continued. “Everybody’s like, ‘Izzy’s’ this and that.’ I’ve sparred Kelvin so many occasions, the place I’m like, you type of had a detailed battle with Kelvin — like, you’re not that f*cking good. You fought f*cking Costa. Costa was scared sh*tless of you. You f*cking blew on him, he fell asleep. ‘Izzy’s’ not that f*cking good.”
Adesanya’s conflict with Gastelum is broadly thought-about one of many biggest Middleweight fights of all time. Whereas it was the beginning of Adesanya’s time within the title scene, profitable the interim title, Gastelum has failed to stay constant, going 3-5 in his eight fights since (19-9, 1 no contest). Theoretically, Strickland feels the loss was the beginning of Gastelum’s decline, whereas his win over Adesanya is his.
“I like Kelvin. Kelvin is a standup man,” Strickland mentioned. “Once I say you’re not that good, I’m speaking about 90 p.c of the [UFC] roster. I’m speaking concerning the 10 p.c of the f*cking most elite guys, that’s what I’m speaking about and also you’re not in that.
“When [Adesanya] fought Kelvin, I used to be like, ‘You let Kelvin have that shut of a battle with you?’ If I fought Kelvin, Kelvin wouldn’t even contact me. It might be a kind of fights the place you’re like, ‘I simply need this factor to f*cking finish.’”
“I feel I f*cked up ‘Izzy’ when he misplaced to me,” Strickland mentioned. “I feel that f*cked his head up a bit bit. He was like, ‘This white trash motherf*cker lacking half his leg comes and walks by way of me with out wrestle.’ I feel that f*cked him up. I feel that f*cked him up an honest quantity. Not solely that, however I did it from such an insulting approach. Like, I used to be making enjoyable of his f*cking life.”
Had Adesanya defeated Du Plessis to change into a three-time champion this previous weekend (Aug. 17, 2024), he’d have gotten his Strickland rematch. As an alternative, that now appears to be on faucet for the champion.
