UFC President Dana White, who had earlier promised Israel Adesanya an immediate rematch with Sean Strickland, said that journalists misinterpreted his words.
Recall, on September 10 at UFC 293, Strickland defeated Adesanya by unanimous decision of judges and became the new middleweight champion of the promotion.
White said:
I saw the stupid f**ing sh*t that was written by stupid f**ing websites. Never once did I say, ‘Yes, we’re gonna f***ing do this rematch.’ I said, ‘Yeah, rematch sounds, you know, we’ll see what happens.’ There’s obviously lots of options out there and we’ll see what happens.
Adesanya, 34, had his previous fight in April 2023 at UFC 287, defeating Alex Pereira by knockout in the second round. He has 24 wins and three losses under his belt.
Strickland, 32, previously stepped into the octagon in July 2023 at UFC on ESPN 48, defeating Abusupiyan Magomedov by TKO in the second round. He has 28 wins and five losses on his record.
