Morning Report | Israel Adesanya wants rematch with Sean Strickland: ‘I’ve gotta get some get back’

Israel Adesanya wants another crack at Sean Strickland.

Earlier this year, Adesanya lost his third fight in a row, getting knocked out by Nassourdine Imavov in the main event of UFC Saudi Arabia. It’s a tough run for the former middleweight champion, and afterward, there was speculation about whether “The Last Stylebender” might hang up the gloves for good. But after a few months off to recuperate, Adesanya says he’s not going anywhere, and even has his sights set on his next opponent.

“I didn’t spar after my last fight,” Adesanya said on his YouTube channel. “I did so well in the fight, I did so well in the camp, and I didn’t get the result that I wanted, but I was still proud of myself. I’m still proud of the way I worked. So then I didn’t spar because I just looked after my brain. Then, when I was in Miami recently watching [Alexander Volkanovski] get his belt back, then I sparred with Kamaru Usman for the first time in months. And I knew once I sparred it would be like, ‘Man, I’ve gotta fight!’

“So for me now, I told my coach already, it’s time. I just knew. And I have a feeling who I want to fight. You’ll like this one: I’ve gotta get some get back. Strickland. I’m going to get it back.”

In 2023, Adesanya finally defeated his longtime foe Alex Pereira, knocking him out at UFC 287 to reclaim the middleweight title. And with Pereira moving up to light heavyweight afterward, it looked like Adesanya could be about to embark on another sustained title run atop the middleweight division. Except nobody told Strickland that.

Strickland stepped in to face Adesanya in the main event of UFC 293 — after Dricus du Plessis was unable to make the timeline — and delivered one of the most shocking upsets in UFC history, dominating Adesanya for 25 minutes to claim the middleweight belt. And while Adensaya takes nothing away from that performance by Strickland, he also wants to prove that was an aberration.

“He beat me fair and square in Sydney,” Adesanya said. “5 – Nil. Just whooped my ass, badly. Again, that was one of the things that made me realize I need to slow down in my activity. I was fighting 3-4 times a year as champion. So I want to pull back now, because I’m older, I’m doing things different.

“I don’t want to make excuses, because he beat me, but I just want to show him if he beat me at my best. So this time I’m going to come at him correct.

“Everything is done since then. Because I used to get bullied a lot as a kid. So he’s an embodiment of that, in a sense, because he attacked me, the inner child. So i just want to protect him and get some get back for him.”

Strickland has not competed since losing his own rematch with middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis at UFC 312 in February.

Tease. Conor McGregor reveals major condition for UFC return, ‘unfinished business’ with Michael Chandle, Chandler responds.

Prison. Former UFC signee Pietro Menga receives 15 years in jail for drugs and firearms.

Criticism. Matt Brown criticizes Paddy Pimblett’s extreme weight gain: ‘It’s not a ton of suffering to not put on f*cking 40 pounds after a fight.’

Rumor. Chael Sonnen: Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall ‘is agreed, all the way down to the date.’

FBI. Dana White lauds FBI director Kash Patel wanting to work with UFC: ‘All of these guys should be trained in [MMA].’

UFC Journey for Ian Machado Garry and Carlos Prates.

Loudest UFC fan reactions.

Max Holloway and Korean Zombie sparring and working together.

Daniel Cormier reacts to the Khamzat Chimaev and Dricus du Plessis beef.

Sean Strickland beating up a YouTuber.

Ian Machado Garry talking to the Fighting Nerds guys.

Ilia Topuria teasing some action.

Do you think Topuria is fighting Mateusz Gamrot?!?!?!

The beef continues.

Congrats!

Sodiq Yusuff (13-4) vs. Mairon Santos (15-1); UFC Vegas 106, May 17.

An Izzy-Strickland rematch does kind of make sense, but also, that’s two Top 5 guys fighting each other with no hope of a title shot. Kinda would rather see them both give the new crop of contenders a shot to move up. But if it happens, I get it.

If you find something you’d like to see in the Morning Report, hit up @AlexanderKlee or @JedKMeshew on Twitter and let us know about it. Also, follow MMAFighting on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and like us on Facebook.