"I don't want to reward his stupidity" - Israel Adesanya in two minds about next opponent after 'missed opportunity'

Israel Adesanya is scheduled to face Sean Strickland in the main event of UFC 293 this weekend. The pair will do battle for the undisputed middleweight title, and Adesanya is currently a massive -650 favorite heading into fight night.

The pay-per-view headliner was only announced a month ago, as the UFC did not appear eager to award Strickland a title fight against Adesanya.

It initially seemed likely that Dricus du Plessis would face 'The Last Stylebender' this weekend following the South African's superb win over Robert Whittaker at UFC 290.

'Stillknocks' and Israel Adesanya shared a heated face-off in the octagon following Du Plessis' win, and the pair appeared destined to do battle at UFC 293. But an injury forced him to turn down a title shot against 'The Last Stylebender', something that UFC president Dana White did not seem pleased about.

Should Israel Adesanya defeat Sean Strickland this weekend, he is in two minds about whether or not to award the next title shot to Du Plessis, given he turned down his last opportunity. During a recent interview on his YouTube channel, Adesanya said this:

"Right now there's no clear cut anything. But, as much as I don't want to reward his stupidity for letting go of the opportunity, I do want that Dricus fight. But I don't want to reward someone that just let's go of that opportunity because I never let go of the opportunity that was placed in my hands. I feel like you really have to take the bull by the horns... No bulls**t, I want [that fight] because I feel like it will be one of the most important fights in sporting history."

Watch the video below from 12:50:

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Israel Adesanya views himself as the underdog against Sean Strickland at UFC 293

Israel Adesanya is a heavy favorite going into his middleweight title bout with Sean Strickland at UFC 293.

'The Last Stylebender' will be making the first defense of his second reign as 185 pound champion, after reclaiming the title against Alex Pereira at UFC 287 earlier this year.

Adesanya is expected to defeat Strickland with relative ease, but ahead of fight night, the middleweight king stated that he viewed himself as the underdog in the matchup.

Israel Adesanya appeared at the media scrum yesterday, where he said this:

"I don't listen to those voices. I hear people say, 'The odds are this... I'm putting my parlay on you.' Man f**k your parlay, I put my life on this s**t. I don't listen to those voices. I look at myself as the underdog in this fight. I don't even know where my belt is at. This is not even my belt, I don't give a f**k. I just want to beat people up."

Watch the video below from 6:00: