Israel Adesanya did not have much to say after his shock defeat to Sean Strickland at UFC 293 as the American caused a huge upset to claim the middleweight title.
Strickland was a significant underdog against The Last Stylebender but he dominated the contest and won a clear unanimous decision win to take the gold.
The 34-year-old now former champion suffered his third UFC defeat and didn’t elaborate much on it afterwards, saying he just wanted to move on and spend time with his loved ones.
Speaking at the post-fight press conference, Adesanya said: ‘ I had a different plan for this. But life throws curve balls at you.
‘Win or lose, I wasn’t going to say much anyway. But right now, I lost tonight to the better man on the night. I just want to go be with people who care about me: my team. They’re waiting for me, so I’m going to do that.
‘I’m going to go chill, have some breakfast, build my family, and until next time.’
UFC president Dana White was surprised with what he saw from one of the greatest middleweights in the company’s history, suggesting Adesanya could have been struggling with an injury.
‘He looked like he couldn’t get off. He looked like he was really stiff tonight. He looked very slow,’ said White. ‘Only Israel knows what’s going on. I’m very curious to see what he says at this press conference tonight.
‘There are a million things that could go wrong. Some days you wake up and you’re just not there, man. It’s just not there. He looked bone-dry tonight, standing up really tall. He looked very slow. He looked like he couldn’t get off at all.
‘Even in the fifth round when everybody knew he needed a knockout to win the fight, there was no sense of urgency to try to finish the fight. So I don’t know if he’s hurt or if tonight’s the night.’
Strickland sounded as shocked as anyone after the fight, stunned with the upset he pulled off in Sydney.
‘Am I dreaming? Am I going to wake up? Somebody hit me,’ Strickland said in the cage. ‘Never in a million years I thought I’d be here.
‘Izzy’s a bad motherf***er. He’s beat the majority of my friends, he’s beat them pretty easily. So I was even doubting myself at times.
‘I’ve got to say the fans in Australia, you guys motivated me. I thought I’d be walking away a little bloody, a little broken, I’m a little shocked that didn’t happen.’
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