- Adesanya calls Strickland’s Australian fans racist
- Adesanya says Strickland pleased Australian fans
- Strickland surprised the MMA world with a surprise victory
Israel Adesanya has launched a shocking attack on Australian MMA fans who supported American Sean Strickland in his title fight at UFC 293, describing them as “racist”.
The former two-time middleweight champion, 34, suffered one of the most shocking results in recent UFC history when he lost a one-sided decision to Strickland at the Sept. 10 event in Sydney.
Strickland shocked the MMA world with the result and seemed to have much of the crowd on his side during the exciting fight.
The American star also did a lot to win over Australian fans in the lead-up to the event by wearing a Crocodile Dundee-style hat and a T-shirt with “For the People, By the People” printed on it.
Israel Adesanya (pictured) has called Australian fans who support Sean Strickland racist
Strickland had strong support from Australian fans while competing in Sydney against Adesanya.
While appearing on a recent episode of MMA timeAdesanya told host Ariel Helwani that he was not surprised by the support for Strickland in Australia.
“No, they’re racist,” Adesanya said.
‘I think it was just me, them, it wasn’t my week. It was just him.
‘He knows how to please. He’s a great politician, I’ll put it that way. It was just his week, his time to shine, and what a reign he was!
Helwani asked former Australian middleweight champion Rob Whittaker the same question last year, and The Reaper wasn’t at all surprised that Strickland was well received in Australia.
“No, I would have been surprised otherwise,” Whittaker told The MMA Hour, laughing.
‘I don’t know, and everyone knows I’m not friends with Izzy. I don’t hate the guy, but I’m not friends with him in any way. We just rubbed each other the wrong way. And it seems to bother a lot of people.
“And I’ll say, Sean, you know, he wore the [Crocodile Dundee] hat. She was wearing the hat. That’s something. Maybe that’s all it takes.
The controversial American won over Australian fans by donning a Crocodile Dundee-style hat.
Adesanya said Strickland is a good politician and pleased Australian MMA fans
Strickland surprised everyone by winning the world title fight by unanimous decision.
‘Everyone has done stupid things, you know? I guess Sean has been very offensive to a lot of people, right? But not to us [in Australia] still,’
“Maybe we’ve been a little bit out of the spotlight, so maybe that played a role.” But another thing is the fans and the kids who showed up on Sunday. [at UFC 293]They like to see tough fights and they like to see good fights.
“Sean came out and gave it his all and had one of the biggest upsets in the middleweight division.”