By Daily Sports Nigeria on September 4, 2023

Sean Strickland and UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya do not like each other. At all. The bad blood between them is one of the main reasons that he was chosen to face Adesanya at UFC 293 next week after Dricus Du Plessis pulled out.

Strickland dislikes Adesanya for wearing nail paint, watching anime, and, in his opinion, being an overall unreliable person. Adesanya, for his part, takes every opportunity he gets to tick off Strickland. He recently announced that he will face the American while wearing nail paint. And in an interview, the Kiwi has revealed how difficult he thinks Strickland will be as an opponent.

In an interview, Israel Adesanya was asked how difficult an opponent he thinks Sean Strickland would be. Adesanya said he doesn’t think ‘Tarzan’ will be difficult to beat. He felt that after his harrowing losses against Pereira, Strickland would not be that much of a challenge. But, he points out that he cannot afford to make mistakes.

“Difficulty? Nah, I don’t think it’s that difficult. But again this is this is where you don’t underestimate someone, and also, you don’t overestimate someone. I don’t think it’s that difficult I’m not going to put him on a pedestal like he’s God I never did that with Pereira and after he beat me three times, I was just like I can beat this guy, I know I can beat this guy I don’t fear any man so. This guy is not on that level, and I know I can beat him he’s not that difficult. I cannot make any mistakes in this fight at all,” he said.

Adesanya will face Strickland on September 10 at Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney Olympic Park Australia. The two will square off for the Middleweight Championship with Adesanya putting his championship on the line.

Dricus Du Plessis, originally scheduled to fight Adesanya pulled out in order to recover from a shoulder injury. Adesanya, who is one of the most active champions in UFC history, reportedly pushed the UFC to give him #6 ranked middleweight Sean Strickland at UFC 293, rather than postpone the fight. The two have been feuding over the past few months, which is a large part of the reason that Adesanya wanted ‘Tarzan’.

This mutual disdain between the two fighters is one of the main reasons fans are eagerly looking forward to the match. Although most analysts have picked Adesanya to win, Strickland has a chance to shock the world and put his name in the history books, if he can overcome Adesanya.

Source Punch Ng

Posted September 4, 2023

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