WATCH: ‘Don’t cut me, I have to fight the chinaman’ – Sean Strickland takes on Australian FAN at UFC 293 open workouts ahead of Israel Adesanya fight

Sean Strickland sparred with a fan during the open workout session of UFC 293. This also became the first time a fighter sparred a fan in a long time.

WATCH: ‘Don’t cut me, I have to fight the chinaman’ – Sean Strickland takes on Australian FAN at UFC 293 open workouts ahead of Israel Adesanya fight

Sean Strickland spars with a fan (Image via Imago)

Sean Strickland did his thing at the open workouts. Strickland sparred with a fan, much to the annoyance of the UFC. The fifth-ranked middleweight contender landed in Sydney, Australia, for his middleweight title fight against Israel Adesanya. For the casual fans, Strickland is known for his brash and outspoken personality than his fighting career.

At the beginning of the open workout, Sean Strickland wanted to spar with a fan. A fan readily answered the call and decided to spar with the title challenger. Before sparring began, he said, “Don’t cut me, I have to fight the chinaman“. The ‘Chinaman’ reference was in reference to Israel Adesanya. The sparring saw both the fan and fighter exchanging headshots. The fan was significantly smaller than Strickland. After the end of sparring, Strickland congratulated the fan and told the crowd, “Give this little f**ker a big round of applause.”

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Sean Strickland is an unlikely title challenger. He got the title shot after Dricus Du Plessis declined to the fight due to injury. He is currently on a two-fight win streak, but those wins did not come against top-ranked contenders. Before the win streak, he lost consecutive fights to top-ranked Alex Periera and Jared Cannonier.

Israel Adesanya and Sean Strickland have an already existing rivalry stemming back from the events that happened during the fight week of UFC 276. A victory over Strickland would make it the 6th defense for Adesanya. A Sean Strickland victory would be a massive upset. However, most fans expect Adesanya to retain the title.

Related: “Speak out at press conference” – Fans fear for Israel Adesanya as Sean Strickland stumbles upon questionable ‘dog’ rumor of champion

Dana White is not a fan of fighters punching fans on open workout

Sean Strickland
Dana White (Image via Imagio)

The recent sparring of Sean Strickland and a fan at the open workout did not go unnoticed by the UFC President. Dana White acknowledged that it was fun but had no intention of repeating it again. White made sure of that with surrounding UFC personnel with Strickland.

Dana White is not a fan of gimmicky fights, as evidenced by his disdain for Jake Paul. Ironically, White is very much interested in a fight between Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk. Strickland received a warm welcome at the open workouts. He already has a fan base filled with people with conservative ideas.

UFC 293 headlined by Israel Adesanya and Sean Strickland, is UFC’s return to the Oceanic region since February. Australia hosted UFC 284 featuring Islam Makhachev and Alexander Volkanovski. The event has been criticized for its hasty announcement. The card also misses top fighters from the Oceanic region.

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