UFC middleweight Sean Strickland largely ignored his UFC 276 opponent at the pre-fight press conference this week, instead targeting the reigning champ Israel “The Last Stylebender” Adesanya. Strickland stuck to his usual schtick, attempting to get under the champ’s skin by repeatedly bringing up Adesanya’s well-established love of anime.
Strickland started by needling Adesanya about the presence of Alex Pereira, who defeated Adesanya twice back when the pair were kickboxing. The first fight was a razor-close decision, while the second was a third-round knockout after Adesanya dominated Pereira for the first two rounds. That mattered very little to Sean Strickland.
Strickland Goes After Adesanya: “No man who beats off to cartoons is going to beat me”
““I would say me [I’m the best striker] but that man [Alex Pereira] was the one who slept that man [Israel Adesanya]. So next to me, probably Alex. What was it 2-0 against Izzy? Izzy, what was it? 2-0?” Adesanya fired back.
“Did you watch the whole fight? Exactly, do your f****** job next time. What happened before we walked on stage? I smacked you on the ass like my b****.” Strickland was quick with a riposte. ““Oh man, I made the champion mad with his f****** frosted tips and his gay little watch, oh no!
I’m just joking. Izzy is a savage. Bro, your Pornhub is just filled with cartoons. No man who beats off to cartoons is going to beat me. Calm down.” Adesanya’s reply was swift.
““Bro, trust me, if you win this fight, when we fight, I knock you out, I’m going to do a TikTok dance over your grave. You better focus on your guy. He’s going to f*** you up, too.” Strickland finished by acknowledging both the champ and his opponent.
“I’ll give the guy credit, he’s the champion. He did have one b***** titty. I don’t know what that was all about. I’m not calling the man a liar. Real talk, I don’t think Izzy does steroids. I just like to make fun of him. A lot of the s*** is not true. Maybe the steroids aren’t true. But the jerking off to cartoons is true.
Izzy, he’s a good guy, he’s a solid guy. I don’t judge his cartoon porn addiction. I’m not going to be that guy. Alex is a big, scary f****** Brazilian. I think we all admit that. You’re at an ATM and this motherf***** walks behind you in the middle of the night, tell me you’re going to be walking away? He’s a tough dude. I’ve trained with plenty of good kickboxers. I think I can handle it.”
Is this the opening salvo of Sean Strickland’s title campaign? Let us know what you think in the comments.
