At UFC 293, the animosity between Sean Strickland and Israel Adesanya finally came to a culmination, when Strickland beat his opponent dominantly across all 5 rounds. This gave him a unanimous decision victory and the middleweight title of the UFC. The buildup to the fight saw the two take shots at each other’s personal lives, views, and styles.
Sean Strickland was particularly critical of Adesanya’s love for anime, his dressing sense, the fact that he paints his nails, and how he once crowned himself Chinese after having made his name there before the UFC. Adesanya, on the other hand, referred to Strickland as an “idiot” on several occasions, and declared that the UFC didn’t want to offer the title fight to Strickland.
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He further claimed that doing so would cause Strickland to embarrass the UFC with his undoctored opinions. Moreover, it seems that Izzy really took to heart the jibe that Strickland made about his painted nails. Therefore, in an apparent attempt to humiliate Strickland, Izzy fought him with painted nails. A win would have allowed him the distinction of being the first fighter to beat Strickland with painted nails.
Unfortunately, his plan came to naught, as he was outclassed by Strickland with the mere basics of boxing; “the all-important one-two.” Moreover, according to UFC referee John McCarthy, Adesanya should have been forced to cut his nails before the fight. Long nails are illegal, as they pose a threat of eye-poking.
Sean Strickland beat Israel Adesanya and shattered his dream of doing a TikTok dance after winning
Israel Adesanya made certain assertions when Sean Strickland criticized him for doing TikTok dances. In the lead-up to the fight, Izzy repeatedly promised to do a TikTok dance over the knocked-out body of Strickland. In fact, he further claimed that he was only knocking out Strickland for the specific purpose of dancing over him at UFC 293.
During the pre-fight press conference when the interviewer asked about the TikTok dance, Adesanya said, “I forgot I said it. And then I realized I did, so I now I gotta do it. So I had to knock him out just so that I could do the TikTok dance. This is the only reason I’m knocking him out.”
Unfortunately for Adesanya, his dreams of dancing over Strickland were shattered. Strickland, in a flawless execution of his game plan, kept his guard up and walked down Adesanya for the majority of the fight. He checked all kicks from Adesanya, utilized the jab to perfection, and accumulated the points to systematically demolish Adesanya. In the end, he came out victorious and was crowned the new middleweight champion of the UFC.