Israel Adesanya was bullied as a kid.
Born in Lagos, Nigeria, the current middleweight UFC champion of the world moved to Rotorua in New Zealand when he was 10, and was immediately singled out because of the colour of his skin.
At around the same time, half a world away in California, Sean Strickland was an angry, self-described “piece of white trash” kid being raised by an alcoholic and drug addicted father and a white supremacist grandfather.
While Adesanya was being bullied on the streets for his skin colour, Strickland was, in his own words, a neo-Nazi who was kicked out of school multiple times for “hate crimes.”
Order UFC 293 Sydney: Adesanya v Strickland, Tuivasa v Volkov. Sun 10 Sept. Main Event on Kayo Sports
This weekend at UFC 293 in Sydney, the Nigerian-born, New Zealand raised Adesanya fights the troubled “white trash” kid for the UFC’s middleweight title.
They’ve both experienced phenomenal change since their formative years, but their differences could scarcely be starker.
Adesanya is deeply in touch with his feminine side. He gets manicures and polishes his nails.
He has openly battled depression, he goes to therapy and cries.
On Monday, the 34-year-old kicked off fight week at the premiere of STYLEBENDER – a gripping and raw documentary about his life inside and outside of the cage.
The film is about much more than MMA.
It shows Adesanya – who is one of the UFC’s biggest stars – at his most vulnerable and offers a rare and honest glimpse into his life.
Adesanya is often pigeonholed as a cocky, brash loudmouth – and sometimes he is – but the doco gives a unique look into what his definition of masculinity looks like.
“Men need to see this movie,” Adesanya said of the film. “Men need to learn how to address their emotions properly.
“I don’t know if it’s going to change the world, but it’s going to open up the dialogue further.”
Let’s cut now to Strickland.
In June, the 32-year-old went viral for a shocking pre-fight press conference where he said, “We need to put women back in the kitchen,” among a slew of other racist and misogynistic remarks.
While Adesanya is open about his own regular talks with a psychologist, Strickland says going to a therapist would probably make him want to “start killing everybody.”
In the days leading up to his first trip Down Under, Strickland researched whether it was legal to carry knives, guns and pepper spray in Australia.
Upon finding it wasn‘t legal, he said: “Man looks like me going to Australia is becoming a humanitarian mission now.”
While Adesanya spent some of his first day in Sydney strutting the red carpet, Strickland’s first 24-hours in the Harbour City were markedly different.
He tweeted his first impressions of life in Sydney to his 115k followers.
“I’m in Sydney and I thought I’m going to be surrounded by dirty liberals. Gay and trans flags everywhere,” he wrote. “Literally zero.. maybe America is the problem lmao!”
If these are the differences between this weekend’s main events after just one day in Sydney, it’s going to be a very interesting fight week.