UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya is all set to defend his title on Australian soil the coming weekend. The Stylebender will be fighting No.5 ranked fighter Sean Strickland who’s notorious for his skills on mic. While many feel this will be an easy fight for the champ, he is taking no risk.
Adesanya is taking his training camp very seriously and will give it his best as he does with every fight. However, it might seem Sean has gotten under Israel’s skin through his trash talk. Tarzan has taken digs at Adesanya for calling himself Chinese and representing China early on in his career.
Strickland even went as far as to call Stylebender a Chinese sl*t and accused him of being a sellout. Turns out Adesanya does not care about Sean’s comment and owned the insult in his own unique way. The champion will be donning gold and red shorts for his title defense, instead of the usual black and gold.
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This is Adesanya’s first time wearing red shorts as he’s previously only seen in green, blue, grey and black shorts. The shorts are of the same colors as that of China’s flag and Israel might be mocking Sean by not taking his trolling seriously.
This could also be Israel’s way of supporting the people of Maui like Max Holloway, who have suffered due to the wildfires. However, that seems a bit unlikely and even far-fetched. Regardless, many fans are unhappy with Adesanya donning the colors of the Chinese flag.
Fans unhappy with Israel Adesanya’s shorts for UFC 293
Israel Adesanya seems to have snuck in a dig at Sean Strickland ahead of their fight this weekend. Despite being the champion of the middleweight division, Adesanya won’t walk out in the traditional black and gold champion’s shorts. Instead, he will be sporting red and gold shorts which coincidentally resemble the colors of China’s flag.
This move by the Stylebender can be a sneaky attempt at Sean calling him a sellout. However, Adesanya’s fans seem to be displeased with the choice of colors. Many claim, Israel really sold his soul to China and might even walk out to Chinese music. “Some how I think Izzy is gonna have Chinese walk-out music for this one,” tweeted one fan.
🚨| Israel Adesanya will wear red and gold shorts to defend his title against Sean Strickland at #UFC293 this weekend.
Red and gold are the two colours of the Chinese flag.
CHINESE CHAMPION! 😭🇨🇳 pic.twitter.com/cgvgwijL1n
— MMA Orbit (@mma_orbit) September 6, 2023
Meanwhile, others were of the opinion that Adesanya only proved Sean right by donning China’s colors. “He just proving him right lol idk how izzy is jabbing at him,” tweeted another angry fan.
While it may seem that Adesanya’s sneaky dig at Strickland may not have worked in his favor, he is still the betting favorite for the fight. Many believe the Stylebender easily wins his bout against Sean Strickland and defend his title at UFC 293.
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