By Daniel Edu
Dana White, the president of the UFC, expressed disappointment with how Nigerian-born Australian Mixed Martial Artist Israel Adesanya lost his Middleweight title to American fighter Sean Strickland. White, in his critique, described Adesanya as appearing “very stiff” and “in slow motion” during the fight.
The championship bout between Adesanya and Strickland took place at the Qudos Arena in Sydney, Australia, on Sunday, September 10. Despite having the majority of the crowd’s support, Adesanya faced relentless dominance from the American fighter throughout the rounds.
As a result, after five rounds of intense striking by Strickland against a defensive Adesanya, the three judges unanimously declared Strickland the winner of the fight.
To the astonishment of many UFC fans, Strickland emerged from the octagon unscathed, while the Nigerian-born Australian fighter left with swollen lips and eyes, despite Strickland being considered the underdog before the fight.
In response to the unexpected outcome, the UFC president has confirmed that there will indeed be a rematch between the two fighters. This rematch presents an opportunity for Adesanya to reclaim his title and redeem himself.
White stated, “I think you do the rematch, absolutely. The rematch is interesting, only Israel knows the answers to these questions, and I’m looking forward to hearing it. How crazy is this sport? What do I always say, never judge a fight until it happens. You never know what’s going to happen in this unpredictable sport. Israel appeared to be in slow motion and couldn’t find his rhythm; he was very stiff tonight and looked slow. Some days you wake up, and it’s just not there. He looked off tonight.”
