‘He’s Got Many Screws Loose’- Israel Adesanya Says He’ll Never Spar ‘Idiot’ Sean Strickland; Says He Doesn’t Like to Hurt People

Posted on by Matt James

UFC middleweight champion spoke out about one of the most controversial fighters on the roster in Sean Strickland. Strickland is set to face Adesanya’s rival on the same card that ‘The Last Stylebender’ is headlining for international fight week.

While going over the various fights on the UFC 276 card, Israel Adesanya revealed that he had no intention to spar with ‘rotten apple’ Sean Strickland. Per Adesanya, Sean Strickland’s overly aggressive approach in sparring that leads to fellow teammates getting hurt isn’t appealing to him.

“Sean Strickland, he’s a bad motherf***er. Like, literally bad, (a) rotten apple,” Adesanya said. “His standup, I’ve seen him do more damage on YouTube in sparring than in his fights, put it that way. I’ve seen his sparring footage and I’d never spar with an idiot like that. I’ve hurt people in sparring before and I’m like, ‘Oh s***, my bad,’ and I’ll pull back… But I’ve seen what he does, and he talks s***… He’s got many screws loose.”

Moreover, Adesanya recognized the irony of not wanting to hurt someone in combat sports but also explained that it wasn’t his preferred method of operation. Adesanya clearly looks at sparring sessions as an opportunity to learn and grow, rather than asset your dominance and hurt your training partner.

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“Whatever floats your boat, yes. But like, it’s funny to say coming from our sport, but I don’t like to hurt people, even though that’s our job. I like to make sure they’re able to come back the next day to do their work,” Adesanya added. “And also to give me work, because you need your teammates.” [h/t bjpenn.com]

Sean Strickland’s outlandish interviews coupled with his antics inside the cage have earned him the reputation of being a loose cannon. However, people close to ‘Tarzan’ have labeled him as a jovial individual who is simply playing up a character in order to receive more acclaim.

Whatever be the case, Sean Strickland is a polarising figure and it’s not likely that Israel Adesanya is going to be warming up to him any time soon.