Sean Strickland beat Israel Adesanya at UFC 293 in a convincing victory. To anyone watching the fight, it was clear who was the better fighter between the two. This, of course, came as a shock to the UFC world as few were expecting Strickland to win, let alone win in such a completely dominant fashion.

This loss takes Izzy’s record to 1-2 in his last three fights, which is why many feel that Adesanya, contrary to Dana White’s wishes, doesn’t deserve an immediate rematch. But, the former middleweight champion’s coach, Eugene Bareman puts forth a case for why Adesanya deserves a rematch.

Israel Adesanya’s coach on why he deserves an immediate rematch

Talking to Submission Radio, Bareman said that his student, Israel Adesanya is among the three biggest stars in the sport and UFC, up there with heavyweight champion Jon Jones and MMA’s biggest star, Conor McGregor. The Kiwi pointed out that Adesanya had made a lot of money for the promotion and that was the main reason he deserves the rematch.

“This [Adesanya] is the biggest star in the sport right now. Top 3, you can count Conor [McGregor] out because he doesn’t participate in the sport anymore…so you got Jones…. When you’re this big in the sport, what argument is there? Put their fighter forward, if their fighter does as much for the company as Israel and makes as much money for the company as Israel does it, put your argument forward.” Bareman told Submission Radio. “He’s gone out of his for this company so he deserves a rematch,” he added.

Who will Sean Strickland fight next?

Dana White spoke to reporters in the post-fight press conference for UFC 293, where Sean Strickland defeated Israel Adesanya via unanimous decision, scoring a knockdown in the first round. He told them he would like to see an immediate rematch. Bareman, too, in the press conference said he would like a rematch with Strickland “next week”. 

READ MORE: True African Fight Interrupted as Dricus Du Plessis Can’t Believe Sean Strickland Dropped Israel Adesanya at UFC 293 in One of the Biggest Upsets in MMA History

However, many feel that Adesanya should not get an immediate rematch due to his performance and recent record. They think that #1 ranked middleweight, Dricus Du Plessis, who was originally slated to fight Adesanya at UFC 293, but pulled out to recover from a shoulder injury, deserves a shot first. Who do you think should be Strickland’s next opponent? Let us know in the comments section below.

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