Sean O'Malley Reacts To UFC Reportedly Not High On Israel Adesanya vs. Sean Strickland

O'Malley has an idea of why this bout may not happen.

Fernando Quiles Jr. | Jul 27, 2023

Sean O'Malley Reacts To UFC Reportedly Not High On Israel Adesanya vs. Sean Strickland /

Sean O'Malley has given his reaction to the UFC supposedly not being interested in booking Israel Adesanya vs. Sean Strickland this September.

Fans were expecting Adesanya's next UFC middleweight title defense to be against Dricus du Plessis. The stage was set after du Plessis scored an impressive second-round TKO finish over former 185-pound titleholder Robert Whittaker. The plan seemed to be Adesanya vs. du Plessis at UFC 293.

That idea appears to have blown up in smoke. "The Last Stylebender" took to social media to claim that du Plessis is out due to injury. He then said that Strickland is in.

Israel Adesanya hops on the stage for the UFC 281 ceremonial weigh-ins inside Madison Square Garden in New York City. — (via Jessica Alcheh-USA TODAY Sports)

Those looking forward to seeing Sean Strickland fill in for the UFC 293 headlining spot have been left disappointed. Strickland took to his Twitter account to reveal that the UFC brass isn't interested in booking the fight. Ariel Helwani later confirmed that the promotion isn't keen on this matchup.

During the latest episode of the "BrOMalley Show," Sean O'Malley shared his theory on why Adesanya vs. Strickland isn't the UFC's favorite option.

"I can only see one reason they don't want that fight," O'Malley said. "It's just they're risking Sean being the champ. I don't know, that's speculation. I'm not a hater, I would watch the fight. I think from a business prospective, maybe that's why. Why else wouldn't you want that fight? Izzy's a champ, you wanna see him keep winning, he's healthy."

We'll be providing you details on Israel Adesanya's next title defense once that information surfaces.

Dickless DuPussay. pic.twitter.com/UQwRF2a5tU
— Israel Adesanya (@stylebender) July 20, 2023

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ALEX PEREIRA: SEAN STRICKLAND "100%" MORE LIKELY TO BEAT ISRAEL ADESANYA THAN DRICUS DU PLESSIS

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Published Jul 27, 2023

FERNANDO QUILES JR.

Fernando has over a decade of combat sports news writing experience. He currently covers MMA, boxing, and pro wrestling. Fernando joined MMA Knockout as the Lead Writer/Editor when it was founded in 2023.