“I wish he would” - UFC champ Israel Adesanya claims he wants Sean Strickland to use racial slur against him

Israel Adesanya hopes Sean Strickland aims racial slurs towards him before or during their UFC 293 fight on September 10. Adesanya is set to defend his belt against the outspoken American who is known for his controversial opinions and comments. However, he has never slipped into the racial territory and mostly targets fighters at an individual level without generalizing communities or nationalities.

The fight week for UFC 293 has begun and fighter interactions with media are at their peak. During a recent interview with Oscar Willis of TheMacLife, Israel Adesanya was asked if his rival Dricus Du Plessis made a mistake by not showing up for the event to insert himself in the title picture. Adesanya joked that the South African fighter should have attended the event and hurled racial slurs at him, reminiscing the UFC 290 interaction between the two.

When Willis pointed out that Strickland might do that to him, Adesanya replied:

“I wish he does. I wish that N* would.”

The back story of Israel Adesanya and the N-word in the UFC

For the uninitiated, Israel Adesanya is one of the first African-born UFC champions in history. His feud with Dricus Du Plessis originated when the latter, in spite of being of European ancestry, claimed to be the first African fighter to potentially win the UFC title. While Du Plessis’ remarks were strictly about the fact that would be the first UFC champion who lives and trains out of Africa, Adesanya has taken it as an insult to the native African community and African-origin UFC champions like Francis Ngannou, Kamaru Usman, and himself.

Dricus Du Plessis defeated former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker in a title eliminator fight at the UFC 290 PPV event. Adesanya was brought into the octagon for a face-off with his next opponent. To everyone’s surprise, ‘The Last Stylebender’ hurled the N-word at Du Plessis several times during their face-off, sparking a major controversy.

While the fight had the potential to become one of the most notable fights of the year due to the feud between both men, Du Plessis pulled out of the fight due to a foot injury. Fifth-ranked Sean Strickland was chosen as his replacement.

Strickland is known for his wild comments and has been involved in several verbal altercations with Israel Adesanya in the past. That being said, it is unlikely that there will be racial undertones in the build-up to the fight, considering Strickland's track record.