Controversies of UFC 293 fight week so far - Israel Adesanya's dog video, Sean Strickland punching a fan, Manel Kape's outburst, and more

The UFC 293 pay-per-view event will go down this weekend at the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney. The event will be headlined by a highly anticipated middleweight title fight between Israel Adesanya and Sean Strickland.

While the featured bouts on the fight card are undoubtedly thrilling for MMA fans worldwide, fans have also been treated to healthy doses of controversies throughout the week building up to the event.

To begin with, 'Tarzan' found himself punching a fan in the stomach on the streets of Sydney less than 24 hours after touching down in the city earlier this week. It was later revealed that the incident wasn't as severe as people assumed. Dana White later revealed that Strickland would always be surrounded by people till fight night to prevent another mishap.

After that, Strickland also got himself in trouble for publically criticizing the Australian government for not including freedom of speech in their constitution. The ever-outspoken middleweight contender also brought attention to a highly controversial video Israel Adesanya posted when he was a 22-year-old, showing the current 185-pound king touching his dog inappropriately.

During the UFC 293 pre-fight presser, which fans eagerly looked forward to, Israel Adesanya and Sean Strickland got into it regarding the same video and exchanged vicious insults throughout the scrum. Given that the week isn't over yet, the build-up to UFC 293 could bring more drama and controversy for fans to indulge in.

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UFC 293 controversies: Manel Kape and Israel Adesanya get into a heated argument at pre-fight press conference

The UFC 293 fight week drama didn't end with Israel Adesanya and Sean Strickland slamming each other during the pre-fight presser. At the same press conference, 'The Last Stylebender' also got into it with Manel Kape after the flyweight contender lambasted Kai Kara-France for pulling out of their fight.

Kara-France is a close friend of Adesanya and trains with the middleweight king at the City Kickboxing Gym (CKB). Given their relationship, it was unsurprising to see the Nigerian-born Kiwi stand up to defend 'Don't Blink' during the presser.

For context, Manel Kape was initially slated to face Kai Kara-France at UFC 293 this weekend. However, the Kiwi was forced to pull out due to an injury. Kape was unhappy about not facing Kara-France and called him out on it.

During their exchange, Israel Adesanya stood up and yelled back at Kape. Kape turned his attention to Adesanya and said:

"Sit the f*** down! I’ll f*** you up. Shut your mouth!"

To which Adesanya replied:

"Look at this little midget trying to f*** with me. I’ll f****** bury you."