Sean Strickland brings up wage gap issues to trample on "artificially inflated" superstardom of Israel Adesanya - "I can't take off the glasses"
Sean Strickland is preparing for the most important fight of his career against UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya at UFC 293 this weekend.
Undoubtedly, Adesanya stands among the sport's biggest stars, making this clash a pivotal moment for Strickland. Notably, it promises to be a watershed moment for his UFC career, offering the potential for one of his most substantial paydays yet.
In a recent interview with Daniel Cormier, Sean Strickland candidly shared his perspective on Israel Adesanya's popularity and his unique rapport with fans. Strickland, in acknowledging Adesanya's superstar status, drew an analogy likening him to sporting luminaries such as LeBron James. He astutely pointed out that Adesanya's fame is intricately woven with meticulously curated external trappings of success.
In stark contrast, Strickland posited that his appeal to fans emanates from his embodiment of the common man's journey. He characterized himself as an ordinary individual, someone who intimately comprehends the trials of financial adversity.
'Tarzan' further underscored that at his core, he's an unassuming individual who fortuitously found success through a combination of tireless effort and grit. Strickland stated:
"I can't take off the glasses. What I mean by that is... Izzy is the embodiment of a superstar. You have these people [like Adesanya] that are artificially inflated by the world. They wear the belt, they drive the car, they wear the jewelry... It means absolutely nothing."
"People like me because when you see me in front of the camera fighting when you see me do interviews, they're like, 'Oh man, you're like me. You're not the LeBron James, you're not the Izzy. You're just a normal guy fighting."
The American also delved into the disconcerting issue of income disparity and eloquently voiced his understanding of the glaring societal inequalities. He elucidated with an example of a colleague laboring for Fox Sports Mexico, who, in all likelihood, receives but a fraction of the remuneration compared to a counterpart performing an identical role in the United States.
Catch Sean Strickland's comments below (4:30 onwards):
Sean Strickland plans to channel inner Kelvin Gastelum in the upcoming fight against Israel Adesanya at UFC 293
Sean Strickland challenges Israel Adesanya for the middleweight championship in the main event of UFC 293 this weekend. While many have predicted a comfortable victory for Adesanya, Strickland recognizes that he may not possess the same striking prowess or knockout power on paper.
However, he believes he has a path to triumph, drawing inspiration from Kelvin Gastelum's five-round war against Adesanya at UFC 236. Speaking about his gameplan going into the fight this weekend at the pre-fight media scrum, Strickland stated:
"You know, man, I just gotta embrace my inner Kelvin Gastelum, and just go nose to nose, d*ck-to-d*ck... You don't want to stand at range with Izzy; you wanna make it a war, make it a dogfight."
Catch Strickland's comments (17:20) below: