Sean Strickland might want to keep his mouth shut for once. On Sept. 5 he told FOX Sports Australia that he assaulted a fan just days before his UFC 293 headlining bout.
Strickland says a fan approached him on the streets in of Bondi Junction, a neighborhood in Sydney.
“Initially, I thought the guy was coming up for a photo,” Strickland said of the encounter. “Because anybody who wants a photo, man, I love the fans.
Instead, he says the fan told him, ‘Izzy is gunna f**k you up’ to which he received a wallop from the title contender.
“But if you wanna come up to me and run your f**king mouth, I’ll smack you like I smack anybody else," Strickland said.
“Uppercut to his stomach,” he said of the attack. “Then I walked away. But if I see the guy again, man, no problems … I’ll thank him for not pressing charges.”
He continued, “Boom, right in the guts. I’d only been in Australia a day and already I’d committed an assault.”
The incident is said to have happened on Sunday, shortly after Stickland was detained at immigration for undisclosed reasons.
According to the outlet, Strickland was missing from a ceremony to open fight week, a "Welcome to Country at Barangaroo Reserve". UFC champion Israel Adesanya and others on the card attended and the outlet implied the "NSW Government wants him doing nothing to embarrass their $16 million splurge on MMA."
Sean Strickland thinks Israel Adesanya needs to 'get off his high horse'
Strickland was also candid about his thoughts on the reigning champion, and why fans aren't drawn to him.
“He doesn’t give a f**k about me, doesn’t give a f**k about you, doesn’t give a f**k about the world," he told the outlet.
“I was in the airport once and took a picture with some guy and he thanked me. He said ‘man, I just did the same with Izzy and he was such an a. hole, he wouldn’t even shake my hand’," he continued. “People care about the perception we give off. And the perception Izzy gives off is that he’s a superstar. He’s stuck up."
He then compared his own persona to that of Adesanya's.
“People like me because I’m authentic," he said. “I don’t wear a pearl necklace. I don’t drive a BMW. I don’t wear designer clothes. So people like me because I represent them."
He continued, "People don’t like Izzy because he thinks he’s better than everyone else – the way he dresses, the way he talks, the way he acts. If Izzy could learn anything from me it’s get off your high horse, people will like you a bit better.”
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