"Not anti-Dana White" - Ariel Helwani talks if Sean Strickland is the 'Stone Cold Steve Austin' of the UFC
Ariel Helwani has spoken about Sean Strickland being the 'Stone Cold Steve Austin' of the UFC.
During a recent episode of The MMA Hour, Ariel Helwani discussed the idea of Sean Strickland being similar to 'Stone Cold Steve Austin'. Much like the former WWE superstar, Strickland also seems to be an outlaw. However, Helwani believes even though the two stars resonate with their audiences, 'Tarzan' is not like Austin.
While suggesting that Strickland isn't anti-establishment like 'Stone Cold Steve Austin' was, Ariel Helwani had this to say:
"He resonates with his audience, he resonates with the MMA fan. Is he Stone Cold? Well, Stone Cold was very anti-establishment, the establishment was, Vince McMahon and the stooges and the goons and all that stuff, Sean isn't anti-Dana White, he's not anti-UFC."
He added:
"He is anti-perhaps a different establishment, he is anti-a certain type of person living in this world or this country but when I think of him, I don't necessarily [see him] as Stone Cold because what pops in my mind first and foremost about Stone Cold was his feud with Vince McMahon and he was like you know, the disgrunted worker who gave his boss the FU. Sean isn't that guy."
Catch Helwani's comments below (1:39):
Sean Strickland's coach reveals 'Tarzan' was unsure going into his fight against Israel Adesanya
Sean Strickland was recently seen in action against Israel Adesanya at UFC 293. Going into the fight as a massive underdog, 'Tarzan' outperformed Adesanya for five rounds and went on to become the new middleweight champion.
Speaking of Strickland's win over Adesanya, his coach Eric Nicksick revealed that 'Tarzan' was seemingly anxious and jittery before his first title shot During an interview with the Schmo, Nicksick spoke about changing the mindset of the now UFC middleweight champion and said:
"He was just very unsure. I could feel his energy. I looked at him, I said 'Hey bro, we're gonna win this fight and you gotta believe it as much as I do'... After the fight, he is like 'I didn't know, I didn't believe it and then I saw how much you believed in me and it made me believe in myself.'"
Catch his comments in the video below (10:46):