"Sometimes the CTE takes over" - Sean Strickland not married to idea of grappling Israel Adesanya at UFC 293

Sean Strickland is set to feature in his first title fight against middleweight champion Israel Adesanya at UFC 293. The two will square off on September 9 in Sydney, Australia.

Strickland and Adesanya have very contrasting fighting styles in terms of their approach. The middleweight champion is known to be a calculated and lethal striker, taking from his years spent in Glory Kickboxing. Adesanya is also supplemented by a strong coaching whose plans he takes seriously.

On the other hand, Sean Strickland has a tendency to go off-track and abandon his fight plans inside the octagon. In an interview with MMA Junkie, Strickland responded to questions about whether he will wrestle Adesanya with an answer along his usual lines of unpredictability.

He confirmed that he had been working on his grappling but would never be able to predict his own moves due to self-declared CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy), a very likely condition in mixed martial artists:

“I’ll tell you guys, we’ve been grappling our a*ses off. We’ve been doing all the work. We’ve been doing all the work. But when I get in there, sometimes the r*tard takes over, sometimes the CTE takes over, and I’m like, we’d be f*****g kickboxing. So we’ll find out man. Here’s the thing guys, a little r*tarded and a little CTE, you know, you never know. I don’t know what I’m gonna do. I don’t know my next moves. I don’t know what I’m eating for dinner. I barely pay my taxes, you guys. Alright, I’m trying to get my life in order and maybe the first step of that is wrestling. I don’t know, man.”

Check out his full comments below [3:50]:

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Israel Adesanya vs. Sean Strickland: Adesanya laments Strickland not fighting to his potential

Sean Strickland trained with former middleweight champion Alex Pereira since earlier this year and following the announcement of his title fight against Israel Adesanya.

Adesanya reacted to a montage of Strickland's sparring sessions with Pereira and remarked at his composure and clean striking. He appreciated Strickland's sparring and speculated about what could happen if 'Tarzan' fought the same way.

'The Last Stylebender' wrote:

"This was actually really nice to watch. It’s a different feel when you know what’ll happen if you went full Strickland. You never go full Strickland [face palm emoji]"

Perhaps training with Alex Pereira, a three-time victor over Israel Adesanya, will aid Sean Strickland in his first-ever title shot.

Check out his tweet below: