In the wake of UFC 293’s shocking upset, UFC President Dana White remains mystified by Israel Adesanya’s subdued reaction to his loss to Sean Strickland. Adesanya, whose defeat was considered a top contender for “Upset of the Year,” left White and the MMA community bewildered with his post-fight demeanor.
White recounted his interactions with Adesanya immediately after the fight, stating, “I told you guys that night, I asked him in the octagon, I said, ‘Are you OK?’ He said, ‘I’ll talk to you later.’ I bumped into him in the back, and he told me about as much as he told you. It was strange.”
Following the bout, Adesanya appeared briefly backstage but opted to let his longtime coach, Eugene Bareman, handle the post-fight press conference, where Bareman expressed a desire for an immediate rematch to rectify the mistakes made in the fight with Strickland.
“I had a different plan for this, but again, life throws curveballs at you,” Adesanya said. “Win or lose, I wasn’t going to say much anyway, but right now, I lost tonight to the better man on the night. I just want to go and be with people who care about me—my team, and they’re waiting for me, so I’m going to do that.”
The odds had heavily favored Adesanya in the fight, with Strickland being as high as a 7-1 underdog. However, Strickland secured a unanimous decision victory with scorecards of 49-46 after five rounds of dominating “The Last Stylebender.”
In the immediate aftermath, White hinted at the possibility of an immediate rematch between Strickland and Adesanya. He said, “I think you do the rematch, absolutely.” White also speculated on whether Adesanya’s focus may have been compromised by his looming bout with Alex Pereira.
However, Adesanya’s enigmatic comments at the press conference left more questions than answers, fueling speculation about his future plans and whether he would indeed seek a rematch with Strickland.
White also responded to suggestions that he had already booked Strickland vs. Adesanya 2, expressing frustration at such assumptions. He clarified, “I think if you remember that night, people said, ‘What do you think, you think rematch?’ I said, ‘Yeah, the rematch sounds great.’ I saw the stupid f****** s*** that was written by all these stupid f****** websites. Never once did I say, ‘Yes, we’re going to f****** do this rematch.'”
With Adesanya’s future in the middleweight division still uncertain, White emphasized that there are numerous options to explore before making any decisions. The MMA world eagerly awaits further clarity on Adesanya’s plans and whether a rematch with Strickland is in the cards.
