Israel Adesanya suffered one of the biggest losses of his career this past weekend. Losing to Sean Strickland in a major upset, Izzy has left a lot of fans disappointed. Moreover, fans are even more upset with him for not facing the consequences of losing the fight.
Following the conclusion of the fight, Adesanya was seen speaking to Strickland. Whilst it is unclear as to what was said, many have a slight idea as to what it was about. As such, prominent MMA YouTuber, ‘THE MMA GURU’ pointed out how Adesanya tried to sweet talk Strickland after their fight. According to him, Izzy was afraid that Sean would bash him on the mic, and so, made the first move to congratulate him.
Naturally, this did not sit well with the YouTuber. According to him Izzy should ‘live by the sword and die by the sword’, meaning he should face the consequences of losing without running away. As such he also brought to attention Izzy’s plans to act like a dog and ‘p*ss’ on Strickland if he won. Further, he also drew a comparison to Strickland not saying much about Adesanya in his post-fight press conference.
As such, the fan, like many others is sure that Adesanya would not have done the same if he won. Here, he also pointed out to Izzy liking tweets about a potential celebration had he won. Thus, with Adesanya dissuading Strickland from saying anything disrespectful, it came off as cowardly to many.
Fans react to Israel Adesanya after his loss to Sean Strickland
For the most part, Adesanya’s rivalry with Strickland was easily one of the most heated ones this year. With a lot of bad blood between the two even before their fight was announced, many expected better from Adesanya. Previously, Adesanya has celebrated his wins by disrespecting his opponents, specifically Alex Pereira, Robert Whittaker and Paulo Costa. Moreover, he even promised to do a TikTok dance after beating Strickland.
Earlier this year, Izzy even mocked Pereira’s son after winning his fight. Thus, many felt uncomfortable with his double standards and his hiding away after losing. Having been trolled for his actions with his dog, many slammed Izzy for ‘requesting’ Strickland not to bring it up in the post-fight interview. Pointing to a tattoo dedicated to his dog, Adesanya could be heard saying, “That’s my dog, and that’s no bullsh*t, so please. I’d never bring your family into this”.
As you can see from some of the comments underneath the video, almost all the comments are in agreeance. According to one fan, Izzy is using his dog as a ‘shield’ whilst others think Izzy would have trolled Strickland had he won. In the lead-up to the fight, many have pointed out other instances of hypocrisy from the former champ.
All things considered, the public is totally against Adesanya right now. Moreover, his quick exit from the post-fight press conference only made things worse. Whilst Dana White has declared an immediate rematch, the decision has been met with a lot of criticism as well.
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