Once an indomitable Middleweight King, Israel Adesanya is now on a three-match losing streak and it all started with a loss to Sean Strickland at UFC 293. It was the time when Adesanya had just finished his rivalry with Alex Pereira and he was expected to take the reign further. However, Strickland dominated him for five straight rounds and managed to register a convincing scoreline of 49-46, 49-46, 49-46, to claim the UFC Middleweight Title. While Strickland is not the champion anymore, the loss he inflicted is seemingly still afresh in the mind of the Last Stylebender and he wants to have a second go against Strickland.
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Israel Adesanya Wants Rematch Against Sean Strickland
Israel Adesanya suffered a disastrous knockout against Nassourdine Imavov in February, and following the defeat the doubt on whether Adesanya will ever be able to showcase his old self spread all over social media. Turns out, the 35-year-old is not going to back down and plans to return to the Octagon soon.
“I didn’t spar after my last fight,” Adesanya admits 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 [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.”
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Adesanya Acknowledges Adesanya
Adesanya goes on to acknowledge that Strickland deserved his victory in their first clash but intends to give a better account of himself next time.
“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.”