DANA WHITE has announced a rematch between Israel Adesanya and Sean Strickland will ‘absolutely’ be happening.
Adesanya’s second reign as middleweight king came to a spectacular end at the hands of seven-to-one underdog Strickland at UFC 293.
Sean Strickland shocked the world by becoming middleweight champion at UFC 293GETTY
Strickland marched down and outstruck the dynamic AdesanyaEPA
UFC president Dana White has hinted a rematch could be on the cardsGETTY
The Nigerian-born New Zealander was dropped in the first round on his way to suffering a lopsided unanimous decision defeat to the controversial American.
Strickland’s career-best performance has well and truly turned the 185lbs division upside down, although White has revealed he may have to face The Last Stylbender again before moving on to other contenders.
During the post-fight press conference, he said: “I think you do the rematch. Absolutely. The rematch is interesting.”
Adesanya, 34, was a shell of the explosive and calculated striker who has run roughshod in the division since 2018.
“He looked like he couldn’t get off,” White said. “He looked like he was really stiff tonight. He looked very slow.
“Only Israel knows what’s going on. I’m very curious to see what he says at this press conference tonight.
“There are a million things that could go wrong. Some days you wake up and you’re just not there, man. It’s just not there.
“He looked bone-dry tonight, standing up really tall. He looked very slow. He looked like he couldn’t get off at all.
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“Even in the fifth round when everybody knew he needed a knockout to win the fight, there was no sense of urgency to try to finish the fight.
“So I don’t know if he’s hurt or if tonight’s the night.”
White himself was left stunned by Strickland’s stunning upset, saying: “I expected a completely different main event.
“Whether Izzy won or Strickland won, nobody saw that coming.
“That Izzy would come in flat and slow and whatever’s going on with him, I don’t think anybody expected to see that.”
Adesanya offered no excuses for his second dethroning, saying: “I had a different plan for this but again life throws curveballs at you.
“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.”
Sean Strickland was overcome with emotion after winning UFC goldGETTY