Sean Strickland claims Israel Adesanya "didn't even try" during UFC title fight

10 September 2023 , 09:57

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Sean Strickland is the new UFC middleweight champion after beating Israel Adesanya

Sean Strickland admitted his UFC title win against Israel Adesanya was easier than he thought it would be.

Strickland defied the odds by winning a unanimous decision against Adesanya at UFC 293 on Saturday night to become the new middleweight champion. His win is one of the biggest upsets in MMA history and Strickland walked out of the cage with barely a scratch on his face, something that even took him by surprise as he was questioned Adesanya's performance.

"I feel like the guy didn't even f****ng try. There were moments where he was throwing punches and I was like 'Am I fighting an amateur right now, what the f*** is going on?'. I thought I was going to be leaving with a concussion but I feel relatively fine other than a few bumps and bruises," Strickland said.

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"I didn't really take much damage other than checking a few kicks, I still can't wrap my head around it and I thought it would be a lot harder. I thought I'd be walking away a little bloodied up and concussed. I love to box and I box guys that most MMA fighters can handle for five rounds but I go 12 rounds with them. I just put in the work."

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All three judges scored the fight four rounds to one in favour of Strickland, who yelled in the face of Adedanya and walked him down in the final moments of the fight. Strickland admitted that he didn't intend to spend the entirety of the fight standing up as his gameplan was to take Adesanya down and beat him up.

"The gameplan was to wrestle, that's all we did all camp but when you're a little autistic you kinda just do what you do. I think I'm one of the best strikers in the world. Any time you're doing the man dance you're always one punch away from being knocked out, but I can spar with any world champion boxer and get the better of them," he added.

"I am a great wrestler and I probably could have taken him down because he was dog tired, but at the end of the day I like to strike. Going out on your shield is better that way. This belt truly means nothing to me, I love it and I won it but at the end of the day the sport is what I love."

Harry Davies