Henry Cejudo: ‘Dana White’s Boy’ Israel Adesanya will get Sean Strickland rematch even though he shouldn’t

Henry Cejudo doesn’t think Israel Adesanya deserves an immediate rematch against UFC champ Sean Strickland.

[autotag]Henry Cejudo[/autotag] doesn’t think [autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag] deserves an immediate rematch against [autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag].

Adesanya (24-3 MMA, 13-3 UFC) lost his middleweight title to Strickland (28-5 MMA, 15-5 UFC) in a massive upset this past Saturday at UFC 293. Cejudo is sure UFC CEO Dana White will grant Adesanya an immediate rematch, even though he doesn’t think his performance against Strickland warrants one. He cautions Adesanya against accepting an instant rematch.

“After losing four rounds to one, does he deserve a rematch now? No, 100 percent no,” Cejudo said on his YouTube channel. “Daniel Cormier doesn’t believe it, Chael Sonnen doesn’t believe it, the rest of the whole damn world doesn’t believe it. Will he get it? One hundred percent. When you’re Dana White’s boy, when you’re his cash cow, when you’re an entertainer and when you’ve done special things like Israel and you’ve been able to kind of grow the sport, Dana White will give you that opportunity.

“My question is for you, Israel: Is it smart for you to take a fight against a guy like Sean Strickland? Is Sean Strickland the guy to come back after being dominated in a five-round fight? I didn’t see that spark in him. It was a trip. It’s not like Sean Strickland even did anything special either. He fought him the way he fought everybody else, and he was able to win.”

Like Kamaru Usman and Daniel Cormier already advised, Cejudo wants to see Adesanya take some time off.

“If I’m in Israel’s shoes, now is time to take a break,” Cejudo said. “Now is time for me to let this division kind of move on. … Since Dana White loves you so much, if you wait a little bit, you raise the stock value of you – people will miss you. Maybe make them miss you after a loss because remember, that’s two losses in the last eight (10) months. In his last three fights, he’s lost twice.

“Yeah, he had a spectacle, and he was able to knock out Alex Pereira, but you lose another fight like that against a one-dimensional fighter like Sean Strickland, that really tarnishes your legacy. If you come back and beat him, kudos, but you still lost to a guy like Sean Strickland. If I’m Israel Adesanya, I’d be taking a backseat.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 293.

Kamaru Usman advises Israel Adesanya to take a break after UFC 293 loss: ‘Activity might be a little too much’

“I would like to see him take a little bit of time, enjoy life,” Kamaru Usman said of his good friend Israel Adesanya after UFC 293.

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[autotag]Kamaru Usman[/autotag] advises [autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag] to not jump into an immediate rematch with [autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag].

Adesanya (24-3 MMA, 13-3 UFC) lost his middleweight title by unanimous decision in a massive upset to Strickland (28-5 MMA, 15-5 UFC) this past Saturday at UFC 293. Usman can relate to Adesanya. He lost his welterweight title to Leon Edwards last August, then got an immediate opportunity to avenge his loss this past March at UFC 286 but wound up falling short again.

In hindsight, Usman wishes he took some time off before running things back with Edwards.

“Yes, I was definitely in his position,” Usman said on ESPN’s “DC & RC.” “I honestly, looking back now, I probably rushed it. I probably should have taken a little bit more time off and then I’m still guaranteed that shot to go fight for that title.”

Usman knows the eagerness of trying to rectify the wrong but warns Adesanya against it.

“For Israel, as a competitor, I’m sure he’s feeling a bit of this, as well, and thinking, ‘No, this guy shouldn’t have beat me in the first place’ just like I felt,” Usman said. “This guy shouldn’t be in there with me in the first place as I felt and so you want to get it back and get that stain off you right away. But if you’re guaranteed that shot, I would like to see him take a little bit of time, enjoy life.”

Adesanya competed in five title fights in the past 19 months, making relatively quick turnarounds in between each one. Usman advises his good friend Adesanya to take some time off before fighting for the title again – something he didn’t do and paid for.

“For Izzy, I think the activity might be a little too much,” Usman said. “Izzy has been fighting a lot. Between when I was champion, myself, Izzy, we were fighting for quite a few pay-per-views. Izzy’s at a point where I think he could just take a little break, and I think he can make the necessary adjustments to be able to come out there and win that fight.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 293.

Dricus Du Plessis plans to win title in December, then defend it vs. Israel Adesanya at UFC 300

Dricus Du Plessis shares his “perfect world” scenario to still settle his grudge match with Israel Adesanya.

[autotag]Dricus Du Plessis[/autotag] still wants to settle his grudge match with [autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag] but not until he’s champion.

With Adesanya (24-3 MMA, 13-3 UFC) losing his middleweight title to [autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag] (28-5 MMA, 15-5 UFC) in this past Saturday’s UFC 293 headliner, original No. 1 contender Du Plessis has shifted his focus to Strickland.

“For me right now, Strickland is the target. That’s how it is for me,” Du Plessis told Middle Easy. “I’m not No. 1 contender in the world to fight Adesanya. I’m No. 1 contender in the world to fight Sean Strickland, No. 1 contender in the world to fight for the belt. I don’t care who has the belt. It’s about getting that title.”

That doesn’t mean Du Plessis (20-2 MMA, 6-0 UFC) has forgotten about Adesanya. Ideally, Du Plessis wants to beat Strickland then make his first title defense against Adesanya at UFC 300.

“The big fight with me and Adesanya is still on the table,” Du Plessis said. “It’s still there. We can still capitalize on that because he does deserve a hiding. He does deserve what’s coming to him from me. How I see this in my mind is I fight Strickland, become the middleweight champion, and the first title defense is against Israel Adesanya at UFC 300. In a perfect world, that’s how I would like it to play out.”

Du Plessis emerged as No. 1 contender when he finished former champion Robert Whittaker by TKO at UFC 290 in July. The South African fighter couldn’t make a quick turnaround for September due to a foot injury but said he’ll be ready by the end of the year.

“I would love to actually fight in December,” Du Plessis said. “I’ll be ready to go in December. That would give me five fights in the past year, and I’ve been active. I want to stay active as long as I can.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 293.

Video: What’s the right next step for now ex-champion Israel Adesanya?

He was a massive 8-1 favorite, but was dominated by Sean Strickland in the UFC 293 main event. What should ex-champ Israel Adesanya do now?

As much as things went consistently right for Sean Strickland, they didn’t all go wrong for [autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag] at UFC 293.

But they sure didn’t go very right, either, evidenced by a dominant performance from Strickland. Adesanya was being talked about as the best middleweight of all time, ahead of Anderson Silva, and that discussion went right out the window thanks to Strickland.

So did Adesanya just have a bad night, or can we expect something similar in the potential rematch? And should he get a rematch straight away, or should he have to work his way back? Should he step back and chill a bit before he comes back?

This week’s “Spinning Back Clique” panel of Brian “Goze” Garcia, Nolan King and Danny Segura break it down with host “Gorgeous” George Garcia.

Watch their discussion in the video above, and don’t miss this week’s full episode below on YouTube or in podcast form.

https://www.youtube.com/live/mkWi8C3IqD0

UFC 293 winner Gabriel Miranda promises Ilia Topuria showdown will happen

UFC 293 winner Gabriel Miranda says he was aligned to fight Ilia Topuria in BRAVE CF and vows the matchup eventually happens.

SYDNEY – [autotag]Gabriel Miranda[/autotag] has 17 finishes in 17 victories, but none bigger than his 59-second win over Shane Young at UFC 293 on Saturday.

On the preliminary card, Miranda (17-6 MMA, 1-1 UFC) picked up the ninth-fastest submission in UFC featherweight history when he put Young (13-8 MMA, 2-5 UFC) to sleep with a rear-naked choke.

The victory was his first in the promotion. While he will take his UFC stint one step at a time, Miranda is confident in his abilities. He’s so confident, in fact, he’s already visualizing a future fight vs. top contender Ilia Topuria, who is likely next in line for the UFC featherweight title.

“I have the same problem with another guy in another event, another promotion,” Miranda told MMA Junkie and other reporters with the assistance of an interpreter at a post-fight news conference. “We fought but a title fight. He came to UFC first, then I’m here. But I’m here one day and one day this fight will happen. Ilia Topuria. Ilia Topuria. I was supposed to fight him for BRAVE. Now, we’re back in the same promotion. Now, we’re on the way.”

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Miranda, 33, has won three of his most recent four fights. His only defeat in the stretch was his short-notice UFC debut vs. Benoit Saint-Denis in September 2022.

Topuria, 26, is expected to challenge UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski, though no official announcement come yet. Undefeated as a pro, Topuria has defeated top contenders Bryce Mitchell and Josh Emmett in succession.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 293.

Daniel Cormier: Sean Strickland told me he expects Israel Adesanya rematch to be harder

According to Daniel Cormier, Sean Strickland didn’t expect to have his way with Israel Adesanya at UFC 293.

According to [autotag]Daniel Cormier[/autotag], [autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag] didn’t expect to have his way with [autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag] at UFC 293.

Strickland (28-5 MMA, 15-5 UFC) scored a massive upset win when he dethroned middleweight champion Adesanya (24-3 MMA, 13-3 UFC) by unanimous decision in this past Saturday’s UFC 293 headliner at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney. Strickland knocked Adesanya down late in Round 1, and all three judges scored the fight four rounds to one in his favor.

Strickland himself felt like he was competing against an “amateur” when he was in there with Adesanya, and Cormier says the newly crowned champion reiterated that to him when they ran into each other at the airport.

“We sat down and we talked for a minute and I asked him, ‘When you were in there, what did you feel?’ He was like, ‘I honestly couldn’t believe what was happening,'” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “He couldn’t believe what was happening.

“He couldn’t grip what was happening because he was not only beating Adesanya, but he was beating Adesanya in a way that he couldn’t have even anticipated. He was like, ‘DC, I promise you, I didn’t think that the fight was going to be like that. I was having my way with him. I don’t understand.'”

UFC CEO Dana White wants to see a rematch between Strickland and Adesanya. And if that does happen next, Cormier revealed that Strickland told him he doesn’t expect to have as easy of a time if they run things back.

“One thing he did say that was very key: In the rematch – because I imagine there’s going to be a rematch – he goes, ‘I think it’ll be harder,'” Cormier said. “He thinks he might have got overlooked by Adesanya.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 293.

Video: Unpacking the previously crazy prospect of Sean Strickland, UFC middleweight champion

The thought of Sean Strickland as UFC middleweight champion wasn’t quite unthinkable not long ago, but it was pretty close.

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The thought of [autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag] as UFC middleweight champion wasn’t quite unthinkable not long ago, but it was pretty close.

Mired in a two-fight skid, Strickland rebounded earlier this year with wins over Nassourdine Imavov at light heavyweight and Abusupiyan Magomedov back at 185. But he still wasn’t truly in the title mix for then-champion Israel Adesanya until Dricus Du Plessis said he needed more time with an injury.

The door opened for Strickland on about a month’s notice, at least officially, and he took advantage with one of the biggest title upsets in UFC history. Not only did he beat Adesanya, he beat him handily. The champ was roughly an 8-1 favorite going into the fight, but Strickland made things look like those odds should have been reversed.

What did we like about Strickland’s game plan in the fight? And how about all the post-mortems going around? Did Adesanya have a bad night? Did Strickland catch lightning in a bottle? What would happen in a rematch?

This week’s “Spinning Back Clique” panel of Brian “Goze” Garcia, Nolan King and Danny Segura break it down with host “Gorgeous” George Garcia.

Watch their discussion in the video above, and don’t miss this week’s full episode below on YouTube or in podcast form.

https://www.youtube.com/live/mkWi8C3IqD0

Chepe Mariscal: I ‘heard a pop’ when Jack Jenkins dislocated arm, but ‘I have to stop when the referee tells me’

Chepe Mariscal reacts to Jack Jenkins’s arm injury at UFC 293.

SYDNEY – [autotag]Chepe Mariscal[/autotag] knew something might’ve been wrong, but either way he had to do his job.

The UFC featherweight defeated Jack Jenkins this past Saturday at UFC 293 after Jenkins dislocated his arm in a grappling exchange during their contest. Mariscal (15-6 MMA, 2-0 UFC) heard a pop when Jenkins injured his arm, but he continued fighting for a brief moment, even after Jenkins was verbally saying he was done.

“I didn’t (realize he was injured), even though I kind of heard a pop,” Mariscal told reporters backstage at UFC 293. “Sometimes in training you hear those kinds of things, and you just have to continue on. But I heard a pop and I went to readjust, and he kept saying, ‘My arm. My arm.’ I can’t stop when he’s saying it. I have to stop when the referee tells me to stop.”

Mariscal said he will contemplate a bantamweight move before a return. Either way, Mariscal’s goal is the same regardless of weight class.

“I definitely want to keep climbing the ladder,” Mariscal said. “There’s obviously a lot of names I need to go through, so I can be in the top 10 or challenge for the title. I’ve obviously got to chop some dude down and get my way there.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 293.

Kevin Jousset explains post-UFC 293 callout of ‘annoying’ Ian Machado Garry

Kevin Jousset simply wants to test himself against a fellow highly touted striker in Ian Machado Garry.

SYDNEY – [autotag]Kevin Jousset[/autotag] simply wants to test himself against a fellow highly touted striker in [autotag]Ian Machado Garry[/autotag].

Jousset (9-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) called out Garry after submitting Kiefer Crosbie in the first round in this past Saturday’s UFC 293 opening bout at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney. Although Garry (13-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) is currently a ranked welterweight climbing into top contention, City Kickboxing’s Jousset would love that fight.

“I think he’s a good fighter,” Jousset told MMA Junkie and other reporters during a post-fight news conference. “I think he wants to go all the way to the top and so do I. I’m sure he thinks he’s one of the best guys in the world and so do I.

“Surely we have the same goals of being world champion eventually, and being in the UFC for me means I’m here to fight the best guys in the world. I’m not here to fight bums or fight guys that nobody knows about. I’m here to fight the best guys in the world and make money. So, if I can do both at the same time, perfect.”

Garry is one of the most popular fighters on the UFC roster, who rubbed some people the wrong way for going after his past opponent, Neil Magny. Jousset isn’t a fan of his personality either.

“I agree, I think he’s annoying,” Jousset said.

Jousset clarified that he’s not discrediting Garry. He just thinks he’s better than him everywhere, and he’s willing to prove it.

“I think he’s very good, don’t get me wrong,” Jousset said. “I’m not saying he’s a bad fighter or anything. I think he’s very good. I train with long, very good strikers every day, and he’s a long, very good striker.

“I’m also one of the best grapplers and not many people know about it just yet because I didn’t really get the chance to show none of my grappling, even if I did tonight for a little bit. But, I can outstrike him, and I can outgrapple him.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 293.

Nasrat Haqparast has bold prediction for Islam Makhachev’s rematch with Charles Oliveira

Nasrat Haqparast wasn’t far removed from a critical second straight UFC lightweight win when he started looking ahead for a teammate.

SYDNEY – [autotag]Nasrat Haqparast[/autotag] wasn’t too far removed from a critical second straight win when he started looking ahead for a teammate.

Haqparast (15-5 MMA, 7-4 UFC) outworked a gritty Landon Quinones (7-2-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC), who was making a short-notice UFC debut, for a unanimous decision on the UFC 293 prelims this past Saturday in Australia.

And while Haqparast said he’s interested in a rematch with Bobby Green, who is booked to fight Grant Dawson, he also thinks his division’s chammpion, lightweight titleholder Islam Makhachev, isn’t going to have his reign supplanted any time soon. In fact, Haqparast thinks Makhachev will “destroy” former champ Charles Oliveira when they run things back.

Haqparast talked about that and more at Saturday’s UFC 293 post-fight news conference in Sydney.

Check out the full interview in the video above.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 293.