Sean Strickland felt like Israel Adesanya ‘wasn’t trying’ at UFC 293: ‘Am I fighting an amateur, right now?’

SYDNEY – Sean Strickland agrees with his boss Dana White and other Israel Adesanya performance critics coming out of UFC 293. Something did not look right to him.

Following his odds-defying unanimous decision win, Strickland (28-5 MMA, 15-5 UFC) indicated he thought Adesanya’s shortcomings in the cage may have stemmed from a lack of motivation.

“Goddamn, dude. I feel like the guy didn’t even try,” Strickland told reporters including MMA Junkie at a post-fight news conference. “There were times where he was throwing punches and I was like, ‘Am I fighting an amateur, right now? What the f*ck is going on?’ But yeah, I think I run my mouth a lot and people forget I can fight. But here we are, you guys. You’re going to have to talk to me a bit longer. Sorry about that.”

On the other side of the equation, Strickland sounded proud of his performance, even though the game plan was not stuck to completely.

During the build up for Saturday’s main event at Qudos Bank Arena, Strickland and his coach Eric Nicksick indicated wrestling would come. However, Strickland did not shoot for a single takedown, nevermind get to break out his jiu-jitsu.

“You know, I thought I was going to be leaving with a concussion but I feel relatively fine other than a few bumps and bruises,” Strickland said. “The game plan was to wrestle, you guys. We wrestled all camp. But when you’re a little autistic, you just do what you do. I think I’m one of the best strikers in the world. Any time you’re doing the ‘man dance,’ you’re one punch away from being knocked out. But I could spar with any world champion boxer and get the better of them. I don’t know, man. I just think I’m one of the best strikers in the world.”

Strickland, 32, was successful in his first UFC title challenge Saturday and extended his winning streak to three.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 293.

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