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Adesanya lost his middleweight title to Strickland via a lopsided unanimous decision at UFC 293 in 2023. While Adesanya was fighting twice a year on an average during his title reign, the Strickland loss admittedly made him realize that he needed to slow down. “The Last Stylebender” has since fought only twice, suffering consecutive stoppage losses against Dricus Du Plessis in 2024 and Nassourdine Imavov this past February.
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Adesanya now wants to return to action with a rematch against Strickland. The Nigerian-born Kiwi recently linked up with former Navy SEAL turned ultramarathoner and motivational speaker Goggins, who already has beef with Strickland. Strickland has repeatedly claimed that he can beat Navy SEALs in hand-to-hand combat, even challenging Goggins to spar him.
Adesanya also wants to avenge the Strickland loss, as it brought back childhood memories of getting bullied.
“I have a feeling who I want to fight,” Adesanya told Goggins. “You’ll like this one. I gotta get some get back – Strickland… He beat me fair and square in Sydney 5-0. Whooped my ass badly. And again, that was one of the things that made me realize I need to slow down in my activity… This time I am gonna come at him correct. I used to get bullied a lot as a kid. He’s an embodiment of that, in the sense that he attacked young me, my inner child. So, I just want to protect [the inner child] and get some get back for him.”
Goggins’ first stint at coaching a UFC fighter didn’t play out very well. Goggins was a primary training partner for Tony Ferguson for a matchup against Paddy Pimblett at UFC 296 in 2023. Already on a six-fight skid, “EL Cucuy” went on to drop his seventh straight against the Liverpudlian.
Meanwhile, Strickland suffered a close split-decision loss in his first title defense against Du Plessis at UFC 297 and was beaten more emphatically by the champ in their rematch at UFC 312 earlier this year.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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