Both Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis bashed Israel Adesanya at the UFC 297 pre-fight press conference.
Former champion Adesanya (24-3 MMA, 13-3 UFC) predicted that middleweight champ Strickland will lose his belt to Du Plessis in Saturday’s main event at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.
Both Strickland (28-5 MMA, 15-5 UFC) and Du Plessis (20-2 MMA, 4-0 UFC) were asked about Adesanya picking the South African fighter to win by submission, and both were quick to fire back.
“Israel Adesanya is irrelevant right now,” Du Plessis said at Thursday’s pre-fight press conference. “That man went on holiday, and let him stay there.”
Strickland, who dethroned Adesanya to become champion with a striking clinic at UFC 293, naturally had a more aggressive response.
“Listen: Izzy – the f*cking guy, the f*cking cringelord, the pup play himself – f*ck Izzy,” Strickland said. “I could have took Izzy down and beat his ass on the ground, but I chose to stand with him like a man. What did he do the whole fight? Run away like a b*tch. Izzy, shut your f*cking mouth.”
UFC 297 (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) takes place Saturday at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 297.
Sean Strickland, Dricus Du Plessis respond to Israel Adesanya’s pick for UFC 297 headliner