Despite his defeat at UFC 293 against Sean Strickland, Israel Adesanya did not lose the sense of celebration and posted it on video.
Israel Adesanya failed to retain his middleweight title this weekend against Sean Strickland at UFC 293 (all results and videos here). Indeed, ‘The Last Stylebender’ was dethroned by Sean Strickland after a great performance from the latter and will now have to bounce back.
In any case, it seems that this defeat did not undermine Adesanya’s morale, since he appeared on X partying, in a video that he posted himself.
Me…a whole Shy Guy‼️ 🙈 pic.twitter.com/UfR7Rkh9j5
— Israel Adesanya (@stylebender) September 10, 2023
Sean Strickland was crowned the new middleweight champion after beating Israel Adesanya at UFC 293 in Sydney.
Michael Bisping believes Israel Adesanya showed an “air of arrogance” that cost him in defeat to Sean Strickland at UFC 293.
Adesanya was the favourite to defend his middleweight title in Sydney, but the tone for the fight was set when he was dropped in the first round.
Strickland applied constant pressure as Adesanya was never able to get going.
After celebrating a unanimous decision victory, Strickland was critical of Adesanya’s display, saying it was like fighting an “amateur”.
TNT Sports expert Bisping was also not that impressed with Adesanya.
“There was an air of arrogance in the corner of Israel Adesanya and from Izzy himself,” said Bisping on TNT Sports Fight Week.
“There was an air of arrogance in the corner of Israel Adesanya and from Izzy himself,” said Bisping on TNT Sports Fight Week.
“Even when he was dropped in the first round and was very close to being finished he had a sort of smug look on his face and there was no concern or worry or realisation that he was in there with a real threat.
“The reason Strickland almost got the finish in round one was because Izzy was moving backwards.
“You don’t win fights by backing up. We have seen masterclasses, but you have to have some forward pressure. Dancing away and backtracking all night and not throwing very much is not the recipe to win a fight.”
TNT Sports expert Nick Peet said that Adesanya’s approach was in complete contrast to Strickland.
“Sean had done the work, he worked on an incredibly strong gameplan and put it together on the night. It was pure discipline. I love the energy in the corner too, it was all focus and all energy. The Adesanya corner was flat, there was no urgency and no energy.
“Izzy went into this fight thinking ‘I’m turning you into a gif, one bit of magic and you’re a gif’.
“And he spent all night trying to get one highlight reel moment and in the meantime he got his ass kicked.”
Adesanya has now lost two out of his last three fights and Bisping doesn’t think that “warrants an immediate rematch”.
He also believes the win for Strickland could breathe new life into the middleweight division.
“For me you have Dricus Du Plessis, Robert Whittaker, Khamzat Chimaev. This would allow the division to move on and have a breath of fresh air and some new eras to begin.
“In the meantime Izzy can go away and have a well-deserved break. I am not taking away from Strickland, I thought he did a sensational job, but I do think there is something to the schedule that Izzy has kept that was possibly to his detriment in this fight.”
Bisping was also full of praise for Strickland’s performance.
“He was superb. He truly deserves that.
“In our predictions we looked at them and said he’s maybe limited, he’s not as experienced, he hasn’t been in those big fight moments, but that doesn’t matter, it’s the best man that shows up on the night, and that was without question Sean Strickland.
“He walked him down from the opening bell, got in his face, took away his range, constantly had Izzy on the back foot and retreating.
There wasn’t hardly a time throughout the fight where Izzy went forward. The only time he did that was in round five, but Sean dominated the fight from start to finish pretty much.
“He was in his face just enough to pressure him and cause Izzy go to go backwards without being in the danger zone. He was countering perfectly.”
