Israel Adesanya wants Sean Strickland rematch: 'I gotta get some get backs'
Israel Adesanya is eager to get back on track by getting one back on Sean Strickland, who ended his second UFC middleweight title reign.
Adesanya (24-5 MMA, 13-5 UFC) was pleased with his preparation for his first fight of 2025, but still came up short against Nassourdine Imavov in February. After 12 consecutive title fights, "The Last Stylebender" competed for the first time without gold on the line, a period stretching back to February 2019.
Some believe Adesanya's best days are behind him. He acknowledges that he's older as a fighter, which has prompted changes in his approach to fighting, but is still finding inspiration in seeing friends like Alexander Volkanovski win big title fights. Despite the recent string of losses and competing less often, Adesanya recently caught the itch again after a rare sparring session with Kamaru Usman.
"I didn't spar after my last fight because I did so well in the fight, so well in the camp, and I didn't get the result I wanted," Adesanya said in a video on his YouTube channel. "But I was like, I'm still proud of myself. I'm still proud of the way I worked. So then I didn't spar because I just looked after my brain, and then when I was in Miami recently watching Volk get his belt back in Miami as well, then I sparred with Kamaru Usman for the first time in months. I knew once I sparred, I'd be like, 'Man, y'all got any fights?'
"So for me now, I'm like, OK, I told Hunter (Campbell) already, I told coach, that it's time. I just knew, and I know who. I have a feeling who I want to fight. You'll like this one. I gotta get some get back. Strickland. I'm gonna get him back."
At UFC 293, Strickland clearly defeated Adesanya on the scorecards with identical 49-46 scores across the board to win the middleweight title and end Adesanya's second reign. It was a stark contrast to the fight prior, where Adesanya created one of the best highlights in recent history by knocking out Alex Pereira at UFC 287 to reclaim the title he lost to Pereira six months prior.
Adesanya credits Strickland for his performance that fateful night in Australia, but if he gets the rematch, this time around he'll be doing it for the younger version of Adesanya who was bullied as a kid.
"Because he beat me fair and square in Sydney, five-nil," Adesanya said when asked by David Goggins why he wants to rematch Strickland. "Just whooped my ass badly. And again, that was one of the things what made me realize that I need to slow down in my activity. I was fighting like three, four times a year as a champion. So, I was like, I'm going to pull back now because I'm older, I'm doing things different. So, I don't want to make excuses, because he beat me, but then I just want to show him, if you beat me at my best. This time, I'm gonna come at him correct."
"Everything he's done since that – because, I used to get bullied a lot as a kid," Adesanya said. "So, he's an embodiment of that in a sense. He attacked the young me, the inner child. So, I just want to protect him and get some get back for him."
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