Israel Adesanya vs. Sean Strickland, Strickland attacks journalists in wild media day tirade, news, preview, reaction

But at Tuesday’s media day at the Sydney Hilton, the man with nothing to lose joked.

Wearing casual thongs, jeans and a white T-shirt with “Cancel Me” written in large letters across the front, Strickland opened the proceedings largely and loudly, denouncing several journalists for their haircuts, dress styles, etc.

When asked by a media representative sitting in the front row with multiple piercings, the American cackled, “Oh, that guy…man, is your dick pierced?”

When told that wasn’t the case, Strickland went back anyway and said, “Yes it is, you dirty bastard, yes it is.”

Unsurprisingly, the fighter also used his nearly 20 minutes on the mic to shoot at Adesanya – particularly for once, claiming he was Chinese while fighting regularly as a kickboxer in the country

Importantly, however, the fighter, who has won eight of his last 10 UFC appearances despite being a $5-TAB underdog, stressed that the same energy would be present in the Octagon next Sunday.

“And here’s what makes me laugh,” Strickland said.

“I can go train with a world champion boxer, the best kickboxer, and I’ll fucking shake hands with them.

“But I talk so much that people forget I can fight.”

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And how does he beat the reigning UFC king?

Although Strickland is expected to face Adesanya this Sunday, he was also tipped to do the same when he also fought Alex Pereira in July last year – but instead he stood alongside the famous kickboxer and was placed in the round one iced.

“So I fought hard,” said the challenger when asked how he beats the final stylebender.

“But I also wrestled in front of Alex.

“The problem is, man, when you get in there your ass gets a little hard and next you’re in a boxing match.

“So I’ll try to be the complete MMA fighter, but I’m not promising.”

Strickland later continued, “Here’s the thing about Izzy, man, the fucking Chinese whore.

“You fight a guy like that, little winking toes, running around, dancing around, it’s hard to shoot.

“You have to fight head to head, damn against damn, and make it a war.

“Cut the ring, take some syringes, take some blood, give some to the gods.”

Adesanya, meanwhile, predicted a bloodbath if that happened.

While UFC heavyweight Tai Tuivasa predicted the result would be ‘death by Israel’, the man himself backs a KO but hopes for submission.

“He said he’s a better striker than me and I invite him to try,” said the New Zealander.

“But I think his team is too smart, I think he will wrestle.

“And I have something for his ass. Me and my buddy Craig Jones hung out a lot.

“We’ve been training.

“I’ve been doing this for a long time too, and I still haven’t managed to choke a mother. So that’s one thing on my list.”

But what happens?

“I’m going to KO Sean Strickland,” he said flatly. “I know I’ll take care of him.

“I don’t want to KO him though, if that makes sense I’d rather subdue him.

“But with what we’ve been working on, with his ego, his brain that’s just a peanut… yes, one plus one is two, the water is wet and Sean Strickland is asleep.”

Regardless, the Las Vegas fighter, nicknamed ‘Tarzan’, expects that despite beating an Adesanya fan on the streets of Bondi Junction over the weekend he will be the biggest banger arriving outside the sold-out Qudos Bank Arena leaves the stadium.

“Do you think the Australians want the Chinese to win?” He shrugged. “You don’t want him to win.

“Everyone hates Izzy. He’s a bloody bastard.”

Then, just as quickly, the American swung back into the press line.

“Have you grown a beard, man?” he said to a journalist working behind his video camera. “You look more manly.

“Are there women here?

“He looks a little better… like you’ve got some hair on your balls now.”

Strickland also responded to hints that he seemed pretty, uh, normal on this week’s UFC Embedded show – where he took his girlfriend to the Opera House, the Botanical Gardens and even the Blue Mountains.

“I’m a gentle mom, folks,” he cackled.

“My girl is going away for a week and you’ll find me in my apartment looking at my furniture, my bed frame, cleaning my guns like a weirdo and asking, ‘Who am I?’ Why do I have all this shit?’

“I don’t even recognize myself.

“So men and women are the glue of society.

“They don’t have to work, they have to stay at home and raise children because they are the glue of society.

“If all women were to disappear from the face of the earth now, I would eat you mothers.

“I would do cannibalism straight away.

“If you take out all the women, I might put a hole in my head.

“What’s the point?

“No shit, I have to cook my own food, fold my own laundry, what’s the point?”

Pushing his relationship, Strickland continued, “If you ever met my girl, you would be like, ‘What the hell are you doing?’.”

“She has two degrees, an East Coast girl … but I don’t tag her or include her in my interviews, I hide her.

“As far as she knows, I have a double life.”

The only other person Strickland didn’t have any bad words for was fellow competitor Jared Cannonier, to whom he lost by split decision last December and who has now flown Down Under this week as a substitute for the Main Event.

“Jared’s a damn good guy,” he said.

“He’s a good husband, a good father, how can you not like this guy? Solid mother.

“I don’t really want to fight Jared, I like Jared and I have no desire to hurt him.

“Did you meet him? Nice damn guy.

“He wouldn’t make fun of fucking piercing here.”