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the build-up to Israel Adesanya's UFC 293 clash with Sean Strickland was full of controversial remarks. The pair competed for the promotion's middleweight championship, which 'The Last Stylebender' had reclaimed in a grudge match with longtime combat sports rival Alex Pereira. Strickland outclassed the 35-year-old in a five-round fight to become the champion.
Heading into the fight, fans were anticipating an explosive pre-fight press conference given 'Tarzan's' penchant for outlandish trash talk and the videos of Adesanya and his deceased pet dog that went viral.
What did Israel Adesanya do to his dog?
Israel Adesanya's pet dog, Millionaire, passed away shortly after 'The Last Stylebender' re-captured the middleweight title with a vicious KO of Alex Pereira at UFC 287. Adesanya shared the news with an old video of him with the dog. In the video, Adesanya can be seen cuddling the dog while he briefly touches the pet's genitals. The act led to widespread condemnation from the MMA community.
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Many content creators, particularly The MMA Guru, dissected the former UFC champion's old social media posts and comments, scrutinizing what they labeled as questionable behavior.
The controversial clips resurfaced a few weeks before UFC 293, one of which Strickland reacted to:
Dricus du Plessis reignites Israel Adesanya's dog controversy
During the UFC 305 pre-fight press conference, Dricus du Plessis took a stinging jab at Israel Adesanya which was reminiscent of Sean Strickland's repeated attacks in the build-up to the last fight.
While Adesanya maintained composure for the majority of the press conference, things changed when one of the journalists brought up the fight odds. When MMArcade podcast host Jonny Roses asked Du Plessis about the odds getting closer than they were when the fight was announced, Adesanya intervened:
"When did I become the underdog?"
Du Plessis used this as an opportunity to take a jab and get under the former champion's skin, bringing up the uncomfortable controversy about the dog:
"Nobody said anything about dogs bro, chill out."
Check out the interaction below (22:23):
