Israel Adesanya plans to put on a “masterclass” against Sean Strickland at UFC 293: “I’m gonna make this look really easy”

Israel Adesanya is confident he will be leaving Sydney as the UFC middleweight champion.

Adesanya is set to defend his title in the main event of UFC 293 against Sean Strickland in a fight that wasn’t the original plan. Instead, after Dricus Du Plessis beat Robert Whittaker in July, the plan was for him to face Adesanya next as the two even had a faceoff in the Octagon. However, an injury made the turnaround too quick for ‘DDP’ and Strickland was able to step in to get the title shot.

With Sean Strickland being 2-2 in his last four fights, he’s a sizeable underdog and Israel Adesanya plans to prove why on Saturday as he expects to make this fight look easy.

“I feel stronger, I feel faster, more explosive, I’m hitting harder. Expect to see me at my best. Expect to see a masterclass, a showcase in true fighting. I’m gonna make this look easy, really easy,” Israel Adesanya said on UFC Countdown.

Adesanya looking for 6th title defense

RELATED: Dared Cannonier set to weigh-in as backup fighter for the middleweight title.

If Israel Adesanya does as he says and makes it look easy and a masterclass, fans should be in for a treat. However, Adesanya did make very similar comments in the lead-up to his fight against Jared Cannonier and fans were disappointed that ‘The Last Stylebender’ didn’t put on a more entertaining fight.

Should Adesanya defeat Strickland at UFC 293, it does seem likely that Du Plessis would be next. But, before that happens he will need to get past the outspoken American.

Israel Adesanya enters his title defense with a record of 24-2 and reclaimed his belt back in April with a KO win over Alex Pereira. Prior to that, he suffered a fifth-round TKO loss to Alex Pereira to lose his middleweight title. In his career, Adesanya has defended the middleweight strap five times.