Israel Adesanya is set to defend his middleweight title against Sean Strickland at UFC 293 this weekend. Henry Cejudo, who has been openly critical of ‘The Last Stylebender’ in the past, citing his feud with Jon Jones, recently praised the middleweight champion.
Speaking on his self-titled YouTube channel, the former double champ stated:
“There is one thing that Israel does have now, and it’s championship experience. What I would put at No. 1 is just world championship experience. When you get accustomed to training for five rounds, when you get accustomed to the lights, the cameras, everything that comes with you being the absolute best in the world, it’s a certain drive.”
‘Triple C’ continued:
“A lot of people, when the lights are actually bright, they don’t show up. I will tell you somebody that will always show up. It’s this man right here. This man right here will always show up. Whether I believe him or not. He comes to fight, and he comes to win. All that is because of all those five-round fights that he’s had, and obviously taking losses and coming back and actually winning. That’s what makes Israel special.”
Check out Henry Cejudo‘s comments on Israel Adesanya below (starting at the 2:08 mark):
UFC 293 will mark Adesanya’s 11th consecutive title bout, all of which have taken place in less than four and a half years. He will look to defend his belt for the first time in his second title run and sixth time overall.
Israel Adesanya calls out Sean Strickland ahead of title bout
Israel Adesanya and Sean Strickland are set to clash for the middleweight title at UFC 293 this weekend. At the press conference for the event, ‘The Last Stylebender’ called out his opponent for signing with Monster Energy. He shared the clip to Instagram, captioning the post:
“This c**t calling me a sellout meanwhile he literally sold his soul for a bag. This is why yous will always get fooled by politicians. I just kept it real and chill. Even look at his shirt, his hat, the cunt is pandering. Bet he won’t do a shoey… 👀 😂 nah it’s calm. Soon kill.”
Check out Israel Adesanya’s comments on Sean Strickland below:
Adesanya, and several other fighters on the UFC roster, have previously shared their disdain for Monster Energy, who remain one of the promotion’s biggest sponsors. Monster employee Hans Molenkamp is the source of much of the vitriol as he has been accused of attempting to hold fighters’ contracts hostage unless they engage with him on social media.