"He disrespected our country" - Israel Adesanya promises vengeance in response to Sean Strickland's 'Chinese' claims
The mental warfare for the upcoming Israel Adesanya vs. Sean Strickland fight has started to pick up pace on social media. UFC middleweight king Israel Adesanya has fired back at Sean Strickland after multiple jibes by 'Tarzan' revolving around the champion's nationality.
On multiple occasions, Strickland has taken a jibe at Adesanya, insultingly calling him 'Chinese'.
In response, the 34-year-old shared a video on his social media where he can be seen dining with an Asian man. In the video, Adesanya jokingly claimed to be Chinese and said that he would knock Strickland out for insulting their country.
"I'd knock this guy [Sean Strickland] out. He disrespected our country. He disrespected our Chinese country. I'd knock him out in the name of China."
Israel Adesanya is set to defend his middleweight throne against Sean Strickland at UFC 293. The event is scheduled to take place on September 10 at the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia.
Adesanya is coming off an impressive knockout victory at UFC 287 where he successfully avenged his loss to Alex Pereira and re-claimed his middleweight throne.
Strickland, on the other hand, is coming off a two-fight win streak. In his last outing, 'Tarzan' locked horns against Abus Magomedov in July and knocked him out in the second round of the fight. The night marked Strickland's first knockout win since November 2020. The 32-year-old also received a 'Performance of the Night' bonus worth $50,000 for his efforts.
Strickland is known for his loud-mouth personality and the New Zealander also does not hesitate from engaging in trash talk. So, the build-up to the UFC 293 main event could prove to be quite exciting for MMA fans.
Israel Adesanya vs. Sean Strickland: Adesanya speaks about 'Tarzan's' trash-talk ahead of UFC 293
In a recent video uploaded to his YouTube channel, Israel Adesanya shared his thoughts on the possible mind games Sean Strickland might indulge in ahead of their clash at UFC 293.
'The Last Stylebender' said that he was not too bothered by Strickland's comments during the pre-fight fight press conference. But Adesanya did warn 'Tarzan' of engaging in trash-talk during the fight as it could result in Strickland being finished like Paulo Costa at UFC 253.
"If he's talking to me, he's gonna get his jaw broken...Cause when you're talking, you're not focused on the task at hand, look at Costa"
Check out Adesanya's comments from the 10:18 mark below: