Although not many talk about it now, but Sean Strickland beating, nay, dominating and humiliating Israel Adesanya in their UFC 293 clash in September 2023 was a momentous and historic moment in the entire history of mixed martial arts. Some have even called it the greatest upset in UFC history, even bigger than Matt Serra knocking out Georges St-Pierre in their first encounter. You can measure how unexpected Strickland’s title triumph was! Since then, both men have lost to Dricus Du Plessis, with Strickland falling short at UFC 312 in a rematch. While ‘Izzy’ is 1-4 in his last five!

And as the Kiwi-Nigerian former champion calls for a rematch with ‘Tarzan’, Chael Sonnen has cautioned the former champ over the idea. “Now, you got to understand with Adesanya, okay. You must understand one thing. He does not fight for world championships. He does not fight for money. And he does not fight for fame. He fights out of anger. The one Izzy you don’t want to see,” he told fans on his official YouTube channel. Indeed, the former 2-time champ has talked about his experiences of being bullied relentlessly as a schoolkid in New Zealand and how that motivated him to become a fighter.

“It’s not the one that trained hard, or trained in New Zealand, or that was drinking a little bit…That’s not the one that you got to care about. You got to care about the Izzy that’s mad at you. Then you have a problem. And it’s got nothing to do with belts. It’s got nothing to do with five rounds, three rounds, main event, co-main event, contender series, free TV,” ‘The Bad Guy’ continued, building on the theme in his inimitable style.

“None of those things are what makes him tick. And it’s what Izzy didn’t have when he fought Sean Strickland… He’s only got so much anger, and his anger was directed at Dricus Du Plessis. That’s who his opponent was supposed to be [at UFC 293], that’s who he agreed to fight,” Sonnen continued. But this needs a bit of context for the uninitiated, since all of this happened two years ago.

Why does Chael Sonnen feel Israel Adesanya needs to hate Sean Strickland to beat him in a possible rematch?

Indeed, originally, the plan was for Adesanya to face Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 293 in September 2023. The duo had been beefing since 2022. And even had a contentious, expletive-filled face-off at UFC 290. This was the same night that ‘DDP’ had demolished Robert Whittaker. The hatred between the two men was palpable, and fans couldn’t wait to see them fight. However, the South African turned down a UFC 293 booking against ‘Izzy’ due to an injury.

This is why it was Strickland who ultimately fought Adesanya at UFC 293. ‘Tarzan’ was ranked #6 in the division at the moment and expected to be a walkover for ‘Izzy’. But, as Adesanya would admit later, and as ‘Uncle Chael’ pointed out, ‘Izzy’ just couldn’t muster the same level of animosity or the motivation for Strickland as he had for Du Plessis.

The result was Strickland, with his awkward Philly Shell style beating Adesanya for five rounds like he owed him money. This is why ‘Uncle Chael’ feels that if ‘Izzy’ cannot find a way to hate Strickland from the bottom of his heart, their rematch will go the way their first fight did.

“That’s who he went into training camp for. And when Sean Strickland came, he was trying he was trying to go through those motions and he was trying to reprogram himself… He had no heat with Strickland, which is a problem for Izzy… if he can’t find that legitimate anger, he’s not going to change the outcome,” he added. What do you think about Chael Sonnen’s warning to Israel Adesanya?