UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland has responded to Israel Adesanya picking Dricus Du Plessis to beat him at UFC 297.
Strickland is coming off a one-sided decision win over Adesanya in September to become the new middleweight champion. It was a shocking result, and ‘The Last Stylebender’ doesn’t see the American’s reign lasting long as he believes Du Plessis’ wrestling and grappling will be the difference.
“Dricus is gonna try and wrestle him,” Adesanya said on his YouTube channel. “Well, stand up in the beginning, of course, yeah. Do his offbeat rhythm, all that kind of stuff, but the problem is he might get jabbed by Sean in the first round and then really have to really switch to the grappling ’cause Sean’s jab is underrated… Official pick, I’m gonna go with Dricus. Does it go the distance? I’m gonna say no. Not that I don’t respect Sean or his skills. Guy beat me, so of course I respect his skills… I say sub. He’ll submit him.”
Following Israel Adesanya picking Dricus Du Plessis to submit Sean Strickland at UFC 297 in Toronto, the American had harsh words for ‘The Last Stylebender’ over his prediction.
“Listen, Izzy, the f*****g guy, the f*****g cringe lord. F**k Izzy, I could have taken Izzy down and beat his ass on the ground but I chose to stand with him like a man. What did he do the whole fight? Run away like a bitch. Izzy shut your f*****g mouth,” Strickland said at the UFC 297 press conference.
Sean Strickland was not pleased with Israel Adesanya picking him to lose his middleweight title, but he also claimed the former champ’s opinion didn’t matter.
Although Adesanya is picking Du Plessis to win at UFC 297 in Toronto, Strickland is the slight betting favorite at -115, but the odds have been starting to change, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the American be the underdog come Saturday night.
Strickland enters his UFC 297 title fight against Du Plessis coming off the win over Adesanya. Strickland is on a three-fight winning streak as before that, he scored a TKO win over Abus Magomedov and a decision win over Nassourdine Imavov.
