UFC 293 Press Conference: As Chaotic as You’d Expect

The UFC 293 press conference lived up to expectations; that is, if you set a high bar for chaos. Sean Strickland was his typical, brash self. Adesanya wasn’t shying away from talking trash against anyone, he bantered with Sean and even had a heated exchange with flyweight fighter, Manel Kape.

Overall, the Adesanya vs Strickland press conference was one that will live on in UFC sound bites for quite some time. We’re focused on the now, though. We’ll give you all you need to know about the heated and interesting interactions regarding the UFC 293 main card, primarily the main event of this event.

UFC 293 Press Conference: Sean Strickland Goes Off the Rails, as Expected

Sean Strickland went off during the UFC 293 press conference, but did we expect anything less? That’s just how Sean is. Strickland is 3-2 in his last five, though he arguable beat Jared Cannonier. Now, having just ran through Abus Magomedov, Strickland will finally get his grab at gold.

But, it’s the best middleweight of all time answer the door for Sean, and he’s far from willing to just hand his title over. We’ll get to the fight eventually, but for now, let’s talk about the trash talk.

Strickland acknowledges that Adesanya is a tough task, but he truly believes he’ll get the job done.

“Here’s the thing about the Chinaman you guys. Hats off to the Chinaman, he’s a bad motherf*cker! I think that we can all agree that he’s a bad motherf*cker and there’s no easy way through the Chinaman. But hey, you guys, I’m up for it. You guys f*cking motivate me. It’s going to be f*cking awesome to bring the belt back to the states… No more painted f*cking nails, no more dog collars, for f*cking you guys. Let’s f*cking go!”

And that’s perhaps Strickland’s more mild moment of the press conference. Izzy wasn’t a fan, but he said that he’s just irritated — there’s no actual hate on his end.

Adesanya vs Strickland Press Conference: Adesanya is Unphased

Feb 12, 2022; Houston, Texas, UNITED STATES; Israel Adesanya (red gloves) reacts after the fight against Robert Whittaker (blue gloves) during UFC 271 at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports/Sipa USA – Photo by Icon sport

At the UFC 293 press conference, we saw plenty of opportunities for Izzy to get upset or snap at Sean. Rather, the champ stayed composed — he’s been here before against guys that he really, truly didn’t like. In fact, he embraced Strickland calling him “the Chinaman”.

“I’m a Chinese champion, I’m a South African champion, a Brazilian champion, a New Zealand champion — that’s what’s called being a world champion, and that is never going to go away, that’s a world champion. He can be whatever he wants and, yeah, you know, I think some people are still salty about UFC 243. But yeah, we made history.”

Adesanya embraced nearly everything Strickland had to throw at him. If there’s anything that a superstar needs to know how to do, it’s remain calm under the bright lights and stay composed during the media events. It’s a plus that he can fight very well, too.