UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya is confident he'll be able to secure a finish against Sean Strickland at UFC 293 on Sept. 9 in Sydney, Australia.
"I'm on a warpath, and I'm going to end this man," Adesanya told MMA Junkie's Mike Bohn. "He's getting knocked out. He's getting knocked out in this fight. But I believe his team will really try to get him to wrestle or clinch with me. He'll get dumped on his ass and knocked out again. I don't take him lightly because a man with everything to gain and nothing to lose is a very dangerous man. I take him very seriously, but I just know who I am and where I'm at."
"The Last Stylebender" (24-2) returns to the familiar role of champion after walking into his UFC 287 rematch against Alex Pereira as a challenger. The 34-year-old had some doubts that he could walk away victorious against a fighter who owned three total wins against him in kickboxing and MMA, but Adesanya finally slayed his nemesis with a vicious second-round knockout win in April.
After negotiations regarding a fight with No. 1 middleweight contender Dricus Du Plessis broke down, Adesanya moved on to granting a title shot to Strickland.
The 32-year-old Strickland (27-5) has won his last two fights with a unanimous decision over Nassourdine Imavov in January and a second-round TKO over Abusupiyan Magomedov in July. Adesanya is wary of looking past Strickland but is confident that he won't let his physical or verbal jabs get to him ahead of the fight.
The two middleweight stars shared a heated verbal exchange during the UFC 276 pre-fight press conference ahead of Adesanya's title defense against Jared Cannonier. The champion believes that Strickland's best chance at winning during fight week will be in the press conferences and not in the Octagon.
"He's a hard fight, but I'll make it look easy," Adesanya said.
The pay-per-view card will also feature heavyweight Tai Tuivasa taking on Alexander Volkov and Manel Kape taking on the undefeated Felipe Dos Santos in a showdown at flyweight.
