Sean Strickland names the one thing he respects about UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya: “”You’re a petty motherf**ker”

UFC fighter Sean Strickland has named one thing he respects about UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya.

While he may have had his ups and downs, there’s no denying that Sean Strickland knows how to make some noise. The 32-year-old is constantly going after people on social media and in the last few years, he’s done a great job of raising his profile in the middleweight division.

However, after Saturday night, the king of the mountain is once again Israel Adesanya. He knocked out Alex Pereira in the main event of UFC 287, cementing himself as one of the best 185-pounders of all time.

In the immediate aftermath, he used a ‘KO’ celebration to mock Pereira’s son at cageside. In the eyes of Strickland, that was fair game.

“Here’s the thing man, you’re a petty motherf***er, that’s the one thing about you I respect. I would’ve done the same s***. So, petty motherf***er, but so am I. That’s the one thing where I’ll say I would’ve done the same s***.”

Adesanya was handing out a receipt to the son of ‘Poatan’ for doing the same thing to him when Pereira first knocked out ‘Stylebender’.

Strickland’s resurgence?

While he may have beaten Nassourdine Imavov at light heavyweight in January, Strickland is riding a two-fight losing streak at middleweight. He was first beaten by Alex Pereira via knockout before losing a close split decision to Jared Cannonier.

As of this writing, it’s not quite clear as to what his next move will be – but you can bet he’ll still be in the spotlight regardless.

Did you like Israel Adesanya’s post-fight celebration at UFC 287? What do you think about the style of Sean Strickland when it comes to winding up his opponents? Let us know your thoughts on this and more in the comments, BJPENN Nation!