SEAN STRICKLAND has revealed he PUNCHED a fight fan in the stomach in the streets of Sydney just days before his UFC title fight with Israel Adesanya.
The controversial American will look to end fan favourite Adesanya's second reign as middleweight champ early on Sunday morning in the main event of UFC 293.
But he found himself throwing a pre-fight punch in Bondi after being antagonised by one of The Last Stylebender's legion of fans.
He told Fox Sports: "Initially, I thought the guy was coming up for a photo.
"'[Then he said] 'Izzy is gunna f*** you up.' Boom, [then I hit him] right in the guts.
"I'd only been in Australia a day and already I'd committed an assault."
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The no-nonsense and no-filter Strickland reckons he was well within his rights to give the guy a dig to the midsection.
He continued: "If you wanna come up to me and run your f***ing mouth, I'll smack you like I smack anybody else.
"Uppercut to his stomach. Then I walked away.
"But if I see the guy again, man, no problems … I'll thank him for not pressing charges."
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4Strickland isn't the first UFC fighter to get into a physical altercation on the streets of Sydney.
In 2017, former heavyweight champion Fabrizio Werdum threw a boomerang at the head of Colby Covington over the controversial Amercian's comments about his native Brazil.
Covington pressed charges and Werdum was ultimately fined £477 ($600) for the assault.
"Colby Covington deserved it,” Strickland said of the incident. “Colby is one of those C***s who, he’s fake.
“Everything about him, it’s this fictitious character he created to make money.
"And look, we all do it. There is an element of WWE in fighting.
“But Colby is a soulless, spineless man who would f**ing sell his a**e if it made him a dollar.
“Everything he says is fraudulent.
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"Like that time he [verbally] attacked Jorge Masvidal’s family, [and verbally] assaulted them."
“You are the definition of a weak man, Colby. And you’re a definition of the weak society we’re going to.”
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