Adesanya is already heavily favored to defend his title when he meets Strickland next month.
Regardless of the odds or fan perception around the matchup, Israel Adesanya’s head coach Eugene Bareman says that they’re looking at Sean Strickland as a serious threat heading into UFC 293.
“The Last Stylebender” was expected to defend his middleweight title against Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 293 in Australia, but after “Stillknocks” said he wouldn’t be ready in time for that event the UFC called on #5-ranked Strickland to step in and challenge the champion.
The general consensus around the combat sports community seems to be that Strickland doesn’t pose a major threat to Adesanya, but Bareman recently told Submission Radio that it’s dangerous to fall into that line of thinking.
“History proves if you start to take that attitude these are the fights that come up and bite you in the a**,” Bareman said. “And real champions, real people who are the best in the world, they’re the best in the world because every time they step up to the plate and fight for that championship belt they prepare themselves accordingly, no matter who the opponent is. And that’s what we do.”
Eugene Bareman Cites Floyd Mayweather As Inspiration For Israel Adesanya
Adesanya has already defended the middleweight belt against the majority of the division’s top challengers, and Bareman says that they’re looking at the example set by dominant champions like Floyd Mayweather during the lead up to UFC 293.
“We get a lot of inspiration from Floyd Mayweather, and the way that he lived his life and his lifestyle and the way that he approached each and every single fight. You’re talking about a guy that was levels and levels above some of his competition, but mentally he never treated any of the opponents like he was much more gifted than they were. He treated them like they were his equal and that they had a chance to beat him, and he prepared each and every time accordingly. And that’s what we do as well, we take that same philosophy that he had and now we apply it to every single fight.”
There was a sense around the sport that Adesanya had largely cleared out the division after defeating Jared Cannonier at UFC 276, but in his next fight the 34-year-old’s former kickboxing rival Alex Pereira scored a dramatic fifth-round knockout to claim the middleweight title.
“The Last Stylebender” got revenge at UFC 287 when he finished Pereira and reclaimed his belt, and now if he intends to settle the animosity between himself and Du Plessis he’ll first need to best Strickland when the pair headline UFC 293.
