“If I die, I die” - Israel Adesanya explains why coach didn't allow him to “go out on my shield” against Sean Strickland
Israel Adesanya says he could not go all out when he fought Sean Strickland because of what his coach said to him.
The New Zealand native took on the American at UFC 293 in September last year. The fight was hyped up as a grudge match between two fighters with a long rivalry. Strickland was the underdog in the fight but managed to dominate and outclass the champion. In a recent YouTube video on his channel, 'The Last Stylebender' revealed what was going through his head during the last rounds:
"I never lost hope, I went back to the corner, I was like right, whatever it was round three or round four, I was like right we go this round, we must go this round. Even when I asked Eugene (Bareman) in the fifth round.....and I said should I just go? And he's like nah nah let's be tactical. I kinda was like f**k it let's go, If I die I die, like go out on your shield."
'The Last Stylebender' was ready to let loose towards the final rounds but his coach advised against it. However, the tactical approach did not work for Adesanya, because Strickland's game plan for the fight worked exactly how he expected it to giving Adesanya no chance.
Watch the video below (Quotes from 13:58 onwards):
Israel Adesanya claims that it's game over when Nigerians start 'flooding' the UFC
Israel Adesanya is proud of his Nigerian heritage, despite growing up in New Zealand. The former middleweight champion always represents Nigeria inside and outside the octagon.
In a recent interaction on X, he saw a thread that talked about all the Nigeria vs Brazil fights in the UFC. Adesanya spoke about why he liked the thread and what would happen if more Nigerian fighters got into the organization:
"I like this thread. I can’t count how many Brazilians in the UFC, I’d guess there have been less than 10 Nigerians or a bit more in the UFC. I will tell you this, when Nigerians start to flood the UFC with what Kamaru and I have inspired…it’s GAME OVER."
Take a look at his tweet:
There are a lot of Brazilian fighters in the UFC and there have been many Brazilian champions as well. The South American country has had a lot of success in the organization and Israel Adesanya believes Nigerians will take over soon because of what he and Kamaru Usman inspired.