Dethroned UFC middleweight champ Israel “The Last Stylebender” Adesanya turned in arguably the worst performance of his career at UFC 293. He lost his title to Sean Strickland, who entered the Octagon as a major underdog, via unanimous decision, an experience Adesanya described as like a “bad dream.”
“How did I feel in there? Like a bad dream. It wasn’t a nightmare. A nightmare is like, ‘Oh s***, f***.’
Israel Adesanya Breaks Silence On UFC 293 “Bad Dream”
A nightmare is like you’re scared. It was just like, you try and hit the guy and it just feels like noodle arms. Just like, what the f***? So yeah, I just felt like that. Like a bad dream.
The feeling I had watching it was completely different, and I called [coach] Eugene [Bareman] right afterward and we talked, and same thing, I’m quietly confident.”
Adesanya continued, offering some analysis as to how the fight went down the way it did. “I didn’t realize it was the last round.
I was like, ‘Is this the last round?’ Because I saw last round and I was like, ‘F***, OK. Vamonos. You need to do something.’
But yeah, it was just the way I felt in that fight wasn’t… bleh. It was just, bleh. But again, it was also just the way he worked. He just never let me get into my rhythm at all.
I just wasn’t able to get my rhythm because of his pressure. He was right there constantly, and whenever I was setting him up because he’s right there, then his coach would help him, and I’d be like, ‘F***.’ It was just a good game plan from their end. But also, for me, I wasn’t able to adjust on the fly.
I said it before the fight, I think his guard is just real unique and unorthodox, so I wasn’t able to find my jab. And I’m able to find my jab [always]. I can find the chin.
I’m very confident in that, but his guard was just good. It was good. Good defense and good offense, well-rounded game.”
Adesanya went on to describe how he failed to mount any serious offense. “I felt better in the back. I was like, ‘F***, I’m sharp.’ But yeah, I don’t know, just, in there just felt like a bad dream. My arms were just noodles.
I had no snap. I just weird. At one point I was just like, I knew — I was like, ‘I’ve got to finish this guy, I’ve got to finish this guy.’ And I tried.
I set him up a couple times, he defended it well, corner helped him out, they were guiding him well, and then I just, ‘OK, just try and find something — and don’t get caught.’
Especially in the last round, I was like, ‘Make sure, don’t get caught.’”
