'Israel Adesanya Hater' Henry Cejudo Outlines Sean Strickland's Keys To Victory At UFC 293
UFC Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya finally has his opponent confirmed for the upcoming pay-per-view event in Sydney, Australia.
While Adesanya’s place at the top of the card has long been expected, the same couldn’t be said when it came to securing a man to stand across from him in the cage on September 10.
Although Dricus Du Plessis appeared to be cemented as number one contender following his knockout victory over Robert Whittaker at UFC 290 last month, a foot injury saw him reject the chance to make the turnaround for a title shot.
In his place has stepped the #5-ranked Sean Strickland, who was in action one week prior to “Stillknocks,” stopping Abus Magomedov in their UFC Fight Night headliner on July 1.
Following confirmation of Strickland’s trip Down Under, which came after a period of uncertainty surrounding the UFC’s willingness to grant him an opportunity at the belt, predictions have begun to fly.
And in light of most backing “The Last Stylebender” to retain, “Tarzan” has received some advice from a perennial “Adesanya hater.”
Cejudo Tells Strickland To ‘Go For Broke’ Against Adesanya
During a video recently uploaded to his YouTube channel, former flyweight and bantamweight UFC champion Henry Cejudo looked ahead to the upcoming middleweight title fight.
After proclaiming himself to be a proud detractor of Adesanya, “Triple C” outlined some paths to victory for the first challenger of the Nigerian-New Zealander’s second reign.
“Here you have it Sean Strickland, I’m gonna give you some actual keys… I’m an Israel Adesanya hater ’till I die,” Cejudo said. “The keys for a guy like Sean Strickland… You’re gonna have to take space. Take space and create fights. You have to take risk… You’re gonna have to take space, create fights, but more importantly take risk.
“His (Adesanya’s) job is to actually finish. He cannot be in Sydney, Australia, and go to a decision,” Cejudo continued. “Go for broke. You’re planning on striking, you might as well take every chance you have to beat him… Typically I give better keys, but because Sean is strictly one-dimensional, just gonna use hands against a guy who has fought some of the best… those are your best shots man.”
Strickland enters UFC 293 on the back of consecutive victories over Nassourdine Imavov and Magomedov in 2023. Prior to that, he suffered back-to-back defeats to a pair of Adesanya’s former opponents in Alex Pereira and Jared Cannonier.
He’ll now look to upset the odds by capturing a victory that would no doubt go down among the most shocking upsets in the promotion’s history.
Israel Adesanya will defend his middleweight title against Sean Strickland at UFC 293 in Sydney, Australia, UFC announced Tuesday. pic.twitter.com/IviXAe3ivx
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) August 8, 2023
Read Also: Israel Adesanya’s Coach Names One Advantage Sean Strickland Has Ahead Of UFC 293 Title Fight
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