Sean Strickland admits being surprised by Israel Adesanya's loss to Alex Pereira at UFC 281 - "He is a f***ing bada** big motherf***ing Brazilian"
Sean Strickland recently weighed in on Israel Adesanya's UFC 281 title loss to Alex Pereira. Strickland, who was the last victim of Pereira's left hook, claims to have been surprised to see Adesanya fall prey to it.
Strickland was expecting the former champion to "dance around" and outpoint 'Poatan'. However, the 31-year-old now knows that there is no escaping Pereira's lethal power. Strickland said in an interview with The Schmo:
"He's a f***ing bada** big m***erf***ing Brazilian. And he touches you and you go to sleep. It's the wierdest f***ing thing. He just touches you and you f***ing fall asleep. But I was not expecting that... I was a little surprised. I thought Izzy's gonna be a twinkle toes and f***ing dance around and outpoint him, but f***ing hats off to you Alex, f***ing biga** f***ing scary Brazilian, you f***ing go out and f***ing do it."
Watch Sean Strickland's comments below (1:45):
Alex Pereira scored a fifth-round TKO victory over Israel Adesanya in a fight that the Brazilian was losing on the scorecards up to that point. 'Poatan' wobbled the former champ with the same left hook that he used to score a first-round knockout over Strickland at UFC 276 in July.
Sean Strickland taunts Israel Adesanya with the obvious question that he was also asked after Alex Pereira loss
Sean Strickland was well acquainted with the folklore surrounding Alex Pereira's knockout power going into their UFC 276 clash. While fans and pundits alike suggested a wrestling-heavy approach, Strickland chose to stand and trade with the former Glory Kickboxing champion.
UFC276
Sean Strickland vs Alex Pereira
Awesome TKO for Alex Pereira
#UFC #UFC276Live #ufc276 https://t.co/0dXarGbhB9
After getting brutally knocked out in the opening frame, Strickland was haunted by questions regarding his game plan. The 31-year-old has now posed the same question to Israel Adesanya.
Strickland wonders why 'The Last Stylebender' did not grapple with Pereira, considering it's the most obvious approach against 'Poatan'. The UFC middleweight further told The Schmo (2:45):
"I should have wrestled. Izzy, you should have f***ing wrestled. What happened man? Why didn't you f***ing wrestle? Are you getting the same speech I got by everybody? 'Hey Sean why didn't you wrestle? Because he's a big f***ing Brazilian, I wanted to f***ing fight him, that's why."