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Many within the MMA world were surprised to see the adulation Sean Strickland garnered from the Australian fans throughout UFC 293 fight week. Despite fighting in supposed enemy territory against New Zealand resident Israel Adesanya, Strickland was greeted by support seemingly everywhere he went, and at times even appeared to be the crowd favorite ahead of his UFC 293 title stunner in Sydney.
Australian and former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker, however, was not surprised to see the contract between the crowd’s love for the American and Adesanya.
“No, I would’ve been surprised the other way,” Whittaker said on The MMA Hour, laughing. “I don’t know, and everybody knows I’m not friends with Izzy. I don’t hate the guy, but I’m not friends with him by any means. We just rub each other the wrong way. And he seems to rub a lot of people the wrong way. And I’m going to say, Sean, you know, he was wearing the [Crocodile Dundee] hat. He was wearing the hat. That’s something. Maybe that’s all it takes.”
“Everyone has done silly things, you know? I guess Sean’s been, I think, very offensive to a lot of people right? But not to us [in Australia] yet,” Whittaker added with another chuckle. “Maybe we’ve been out of the crosshairs a little bit, so maybe that played a role. But another thing is, like, the fans and the guys that showed up on Sunday [at UFC 293], they like seeing hard fights and they like seeing good fights. Sean went out there and gave his all and had one of the biggest upsets in the middleweight division.”
Strickland not only won the crowd’s affection, he also captured the UFC middleweight title in stunning fashion, dominating Adesanya from bell to bell over 25 minutes to pull off one of the most shocking UFC upsets in recent memory. The result flipped the 185-pound division on its head overnight, breathing new life into the title hopes for a variety of former Adesanya opponents, including Whittaker.
The result also scuttled, at least for now, a rivalry between Adesanya and South African contender Dricus Du Plessis that appeared to have all the makings of a memorable — if ugly — showdown, one that revolved largely around the two middleweights’ disagreements regarding their rights to claim themselves as African-born UFC fighters. But that, too, was somewhat of a funny case for Whittaker, especially considering that Adesanya made questioning Whittaker’s heritage as a New Zealand-born fighter who represents Australia into a central theme of the build-up to their own title bout in October 2019 at UFC 243.
“I always thought that was funny, like the debate on where people are from with Dricus and Izzy. I was sitting here like, what?” Whittaker said. “You know what I mean? But I also saw Izzy said sorry about that as well, like he shouldn’t have done that. And I accept his apology, and you’re right, you shouldn’t do things like that. You should leave that sort of stuff out of the business. We’re in here fighting for living, we’re modern day warriors. We don’t need to conduct ourselves like that. I think you can be proud of representing wherever you want, as long as it’s your home soil and you’re proud to do so and you do so properly.
“That’s the thing with how you conduct yourself, because don’t think for an instant — and this is to all the fighters on the weekend — don’t think for an instant that you can say something today, and then 10 years down the track, it’s not going to come up. Oh, it’ll come up. It’s always there, especially in today’s day and age, with recordings and everything else. You know there’s someone behind the computer screen that hates your guts and he’s saved that clip or that short, and he’s going to throw it in your face when you make something, when you’re a big enough name for it to hurt. It’s there. That’s why you’ve got to conduct yourself professionally. We’re professionals, we’re athletes, we get paid for this. Do so professionally.”
Whittaker ultimately lost to Du Plessis this past July at UFC 290, putting an end to a sterling 12-2 run at middleweight that saw him capture the belt and fall short only against Adesanya.
However, the general reaction from the most vocal segment of the MMA fan base to Whittaker’s loss sat in stark contrast to the revelry that has seemingly greeted Adesanya’s demise — and that, too, is not a surprise to the 32-year-old former champion.
“I would have to say 99 percent of that was just love and support [after my loss], but you’ve got to understand as well, it’s not something that just popped up,” Whittaker said. “It’s because I have been honest in the way I’ve conducted myself since day one.
“They support me for who I am, not for just what I do. And yeah, I’ve got to say that I would have to have the best fans in the world, because of their support. I saw a lot of Izzy’s fans and just comments and stuff like that, and hey, like attracts like. If you act a certain way, you’re going to attract certain people. I’m very proud of the people that have flocked to me, that have come and supported me.”
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