Controversial persona aside, Sean
Strickland reminded everyone that he’s also a high-level
fighter with his upset of Israel
Adesanya at UFC 293.
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Still, even Strickland himself was a little bit suprised by his
performance against an opponent who was regarded as one of the
greatest middleweights of all-time.
“F—k, I think I proved myself wrong,” Strickland said at Saturday’s
post-fight press conference. “F—k, you watch Izzy go and f—k
everybody up and you walk through him pretty easily, it’s kinda
weird. Kinda weird. Just a weird day, guys, a weird f—-ing day.
Weird day. Here we are.”
In addition to becoming the first foe to score a knockdown of
Adesanya, Strickland largely outworked the City Kickboxing stalwart
on the feet over the course of the 25-minute affair. That wasn’t
necessarily the game plan heading into the fight.
“The game plan was to wrestle, you guys. We wrestled all camp,”
Strickland said. “But when you’re a little autistic, you 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 one punch away from being
knocked out. But I could spar with any world champion boxer and get
the better of them. I don’t know, man. I just think I’m one of the
best strikers in the world.”
UFC president Dana White suggested that Adesanya looked off during
his portion of the post-fight press conference, and Strickland also
seemed confused by his adversary’s demeanor in the Octagon.
Regardless of the circumstances, the UFC’s middleweight division
feels wide open after Saturday’s surprising results. According to
Strickland, his skill often gets overlooked because of his
outspoken ways.
“G——n, dude. I feel like the guy didn’t even try,” Strickland said.
“There were times where he was throwing punches and I was like, ‘Am
I fighting an amateur, right now? What the f—k is going on?’ But
yeah, I think I run my mouth a lot and people forget I can fight.
But here we are, you guys. You’re going to have to talk to me a bit
longer. Sorry about that.”