"Colby is a spineless man"- Sean Strickland offers rare praise to Israel Adesanya while contrasting his authenticity with Colby Covington's persona
It seems Sean Strickland is not a fan of Colby Covington and recently sounded off on the former UFC interim welterweight champion for playing a phony character for attention. Instead, 'Tarzan' heaped praise on his longtime rival, Israel Adesanya, for being true to himself regardless of public perception.
It's no secret that Strickland and Adesanya share no love for each other. The two middleweights have exchanged fiery verbal shots on social media in the past, and their infamous back-and-forth at the UFC 276 pre-fight presser undoubtedly made the UFC's decision to book them against each other at UFC 293 an easy one.
However, it seems Sean Strickland dislikes Colby Covington even more than Israel Adesanya. 'Chaos' is widely known for his brash personality and rarely shies away from expressing his unfiltered opinions on sensitive issues.
Just days before his bout, Strickland sounded off on Covington during an interview with Fox Sports Australia. After being reminded of Fabricio Werdum's physical assault on 'Chaos' in Sydney in 2017, he said:
"And Colby Covington deserved it... Colby is one of those c**ts who's fake. Everything about him it’s this fictitious character he created to make money... Colby is a soulless, spineless man who would f***ing sell his a**e if it made him a dollar."
Sean Strickland then contrasted Covington to Israel Adesanya, whom he praised for being authentic, saying:
"Izzy is authentic. He paints his nails and is very authentic to what he is. He’s just another guy with a lot of money who is trying to be a superstar."
Sean Strickland claims to have assaulted trash-talking fan in Sydney
In the same interview with Fox New Australia, Sean Strickland claimed that he'd punched somebody less than 24 hours after arriving in Sydney. It seems the altercation stemmed from a taunt made by an Israel Adesanya fan, which Strickland didn't take kindly to.
As mentioned, 'Tarzan' is set to challenge 'The Last Stylebender' for the 185-pound strap at UFC 293 at the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney this weekend. Ahead of their highly anticipated grudge match, both fighters have commenced their mental warfare and trash-talking. However, Strickland clearly doesn't appreciate fans getting in on the action.
In the interview, Sean Strickland outlined how a fan walked up to him around Bondi Junction and taunted him, saying, "Izzy is gunna f*** you up." He continued:
"Boom, right in the guts. I’d only been in Australia a day, and already I’d committed an assault... If you wanna come up to me and run your f***ing mouth, I’ll smack you like I smack anybody else... But if I see the guy again, man, no problems. ... I’ll thank him for not pressing charges.”