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Israel Adesanya is currently scheduled to take on Sean Strickland in the main event of UFC 293. 'The Last Stylebender' will defend his middleweight title against 'Tarzan', who is stepping up after Dricus du Plessis revealed that he'd be unable to make the September 10 date due to injury.
Adesanya's rivalry with du Plessis is defined by a clear enmity between the two men. That said, Strickland has been highly critical of the middleweight champion's anger towards du Plessis' comments about being African. Thus, he has taken to poking fun of Adesanya's past comments about representing China.
He has frequently referred to Israel Adesanya as a Chinese man, largely due to a Chinese commercial that the champion filmed, wherein he said as much. But Adesanya has taken Strickland's jabs in stride and recently took to Twitter, where he posted a clip of himself in a post-fight interview with a Zhang Weili voiceover, jokingly claiming that he needs to brush up on his Mandarin.
Adesanya has gone on record to claim that he isn't bothered by any of Strickland's antics, despite the two previously clashing at the UFC 276 pre-fight press conference. The two men also have a past opponent in common, as they both faced former middleweight champion Alex Pereira.
'Poatan' famously knocked Sean Strickland out with his patented left hook. Meanwhile, the Brazilian is 1-1 with Israel Adesanya in MMA, but has beaten him in the two other bouts from their kickboxing days.
According to Adesanya, the only way he will entertain another fight with Pereira is if the Brazilian captures light heavyweight gold.
Have Israel Adesanya and Zhang Weili ever fought on the same card?
Israel Adesanya and Zhang Weili both made the first-ever defense of their respective championships at UFC 248. 'The Last Stylebender' headlined the event in a lackluster bout against Yoel Romero, emerging victorious via unanimous decision after a five-round, low-volume affair.
Meanwhile, Zhang Weili took on Joanna Jedrzejczyk in the co-main event in an action-packed war that many hailed as 2020's Fight of the Year. 'Magnum' defeated Jedrzejczyk via split decision, cementing herself as a fan-favorite for her efforts.
