Strickland vs Adesanya: CEO Dana White praises Sean Strickland amid rematch debates

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Dana White, the CEO of UFC has revealed the good side of Sean Strickland’s shocking victory over Israel Adesanya at the UFC 293. He praised Strickland’s performance and the good returns already coming from it for the UFC, all after he had hinted at the end of the match that he would like a rematch. A statement that has opened a debate among pundits and fighters alike.

White’s reason for wanting the rematch was controversial.

‘Israel looked like he was in slow motion,’ he had said. ‘He looked like he couldn’t get off. He looked like he was really stiff tonight. He looked very slow. … Only Israel knows what’s going on.’

Going on as if advocating for some friend, he continued, ‘There are a million things that could go wrong. Some days you wake up and you’re just not there, man. It’s just not there. He looked bone-dry tonight, standing up really tall. He looked very slow. He looked like he couldn’t get off at all. Even in the fifth round when everybody knew he needed a knockout to win the fight, there was no sense of urgency to try to finish the fight. So I don’t know if he’s hurt or if tonight’s the night.’

Several people disagreed with him when he later said ‘I think you do the rematch, absolutely. The rematch is interesting. That could be the thing, too.’

At least three people have condemned the decision, saying it is better for Adesanya to recover fully before taking another fight with Strickland. They argued that instead, Sean Strickland should get to fight with other contenders in the UFC franchise.

Dana White seems concerned to lose the returns Israel Adesanya’s victory as a once-underdog usually brought for the company. But as things stand, he needed not to have worried so much, since Strickland was also a beloved underdog. According to Dana White’s recent comments, Strickland’s victory is bringing lots of internet traffic to the company.

“Let me tell you this: So on Instagram, I have 8.3 million followers,’ White said. ‘Me wrapping the belt on him did 16 million views. DC (Daniel Cormier) was telling me on the flight back, he did interviews with him on his YouTube channel, and it was the biggest he’s ever done or something like that.

‘If you saw, there was a lot of hype around Strickland early. He lost a couple, hype kind of died down, he came back and he won the world title, and people are fascinated again. I think people love an underdog. He was such a big underdog in that fight, he came out and won. People were saying, ‘Oh, don’t take away the fact that Strickland won the fight,’ good for him. I love that sh*t. I love the support he’s getting, it’s great.’

He seemed excited, but fans are still waiting for the outcome of the rematch debate.

‘It is what it is,’ CEO White once said. ‘We [UFC] obviously put him [Strickland] in that position, and he[Strickland] went in and delivered and won the fight, and he’s the champ now. You know what you’re getting when you get him [Strickand]. This is no surprise, no shock. Good for him.’

This sounded different from his first statement after Israel Adesanya’s loss. He nevertheless praised Strickland in that first speech.

‘He came into hostile territory with the whole world talking shit about him, the whole world saying he couldn’t do it,” White said. “A seven-to-one underdog, he came in and almost finished him in the first round and won the championship, won the world title. Everything that we’re talking about right now about how crazy this sport is, when opportunities arise, you jump on them and you take them. You should never turn down fights when you get the call, especially if it’s for a world title.’