Former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya is seeking a rematch with Sean Strickland.
Following his third consecutive loss earlier this year – a knockout by Nassourdine Imavov at UFC Saudi Arabia – speculation arose about whether “The Last Stylebender” might retire from mixed martial arts. However, after taking a few months off to recover, Adesanya has confirmed he`s not hanging up the gloves and is already looking towards his next opponent.
Adesanya shared his thoughts on his YouTube channel:
“I didn’t spar after my last fight,” he said. “I felt I performed well in the fight and had a great camp, and although I didn’t get the win, I was still proud of my effort. I took time off sparring to rest my brain. Then, while recently watching [Alexander Volkanovski] regain his belt in Miami, I sparred with Kamaru Usman for the first time in months. I knew immediately after sparring that I needed to fight again!”
He continued, clearly stating his target:
“So, I’ve already told my coach it’s time. I just felt it. And I have a sense of who I want to fight next. You`re going to like this: I need to get some payback. Strickland. I’m going to get it back.”
In 2023, Adesanya finally overcame his longtime rival Alex Pereira with a knockout at UFC 287 to reclaim the middleweight championship. With Pereira then moving to light heavyweight, it seemed Adesanya was poised for another dominant reign in the division. However, Sean Strickland had other plans.
Strickland stepped in to fight Adesanya in the main event of UFC 293 and delivered one of the sport`s most stunning upsets, comprehensively defeating Adesanya over 25 minutes to become the middleweight champion. While Adesanya fully credits Strickland`s performance, he aims to show that the result was an anomaly.
Reflecting on that fight, Adesanya admitted:
“He beat me fair and square in Sydney,” Adesanya stated. “It was a clean 5-0. He just completely dominated me. That loss was one of the reasons I realized I needed to reduce my fight frequency. I was fighting three or four times a year as champion. Now I want to slow down because I’m older, and I’m approaching things differently.”
He elaborated on his motivation:
“I don`t want to make excuses because he won,” he added, “but I want to see if he can beat me when I`m at my absolute best. This time, I`ll be fully prepared.”
“Everything I`m doing stems from that,” he explained. “I was bullied a lot as a child. In a way, he represents that, because he attacked my inner child. So I want to protect that part of myself and get some payback for him.”
Strickland`s most recent bout was a loss in his own rematch against current middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis at UFC 312 in February.
The potential rematch between Adesanya and Strickland presents an interesting scenario, pitting two top contenders against each other, though currently without an immediate title implication.
