Israel Adesanya may have to wait a little longer until he can fight Sean Strickland again after the former champion has received an indefinite suspension.
When Israel Adesanya lost his middleweight title to Sean Strickland at UFC 293 in 2023, it seemed inevitable that one day the two would clash in a rematch due to it being a huge upset.
And earlier this year, ‘The Last Stylebender’ once again called out Strickland for a rematch with the two coming off the back of losses and the timing making sense for both with Strickland having not fought since his title loss against Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 312.
The controversial middleweight has seemingly never responded to Adesanya’s callout and now things have taken an unfortunate turn for Strickland.
Strickland receives indefinite suspension as Adesanya claims he doesn’t want the fight
A few weeks ago, Strickland once again made the headlines for all the wrong reasons after he stormed the cage at a small MMA event and punched a fighter who submitted his teammate.
And it has now been confirmed that Strickland has received a suspension extension from the Nevada State Athletic Commission. On Wednesday, the NSAC voted unanimously to extend Strickland’s suspension, which was initially issued on July 3.
The former champion will remain suspended until a full disciplinary hearing or adjudication agreement is reached and that meeting won’t happen until at least August during the next monthly meeting.
And with that, the UFC are currently unable to book him a fight with it unclear as of yet whether he will receive a lengthy suspension.
That leaves Adesanya unsure on whether he will get his desired fight against his rival this year, and he has claimed that Strickland doesn’t want to fight him regardless.
“I’ve called this dude out how many times but now he wants to fight Belal (Muhammad) but why, I don’t understand. He’s never said anything but again, it’s easy money come on, you beat me once, do it again, come on, it’s easy money, you’ll be fine,” Adesanya said in a video on his YouTube channel.
“I just want the fight anyway I think it’ll be a good fight. I want that fight, it’s a big fight for him and I just want that fight again just for me, because look, (Alex) Pereira beat me how many times and I accepted it… I just want to make sure I did this right, just one more time,” he continued.
No other fights make sense for Israel Adesanya
At this point in his career, no other fights seem to make sense for ‘The Last Stylebender’ especially considering the fact that he is coming off three losses in a row, with his last one being a brutal loss to Nassourdine Imavov.
It is unlikely that at this point in his career Adesanya will make another charge towards the middleweight title, however even with a win over Strickland, it opens up several doors ahead of him.