Sean Strickland thinks Israel Adesanya is overrated.

Strickland (29-6 MMA, 16-6 UFC) dethroned Adesanya to win the middleweight title in a huge upset at UFC 293. He then lost his belt to Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 297, who forced Adesanya to submit in the main event of UFC 305 in Perth on Saturday.

Adesanya (24-4 MMA, 13-4 UFC) is now in uncharted waters after losing three of his last four fights, and Strickland says he was never convinced by “The Stylebender,” pointing to his war with Kelvin Gastelum in 2018 as one of the indicators.

“I have an unpopular opinion. You’re not going to like this. I just don’t think Izzy is that good,” Strickland said on the podcast “Verse Us with Eric Nicksick.” “When he fought Kelvin – and I think Kelvin sucks – everyone was like, ‘Oh, Izzy is this and that.’ Dude, I fought Kelvin so many times.

“I thought to myself, ‘You had a pretty close fight with Kelvin. You’re not that damn good.’ Well, you’re not that damn good. You fought damn (Paulo) Costa and Costa was scared shitless of you. You knocked him out and he fell asleep. Izzy’s just not that damn good.”

Adesanya’s last 12 appearances have been title fights, but the likes of Michael Bisping believe his championship days are likely over. Strickland rebounded from his loss to Du Plessis with a win over Costa at UFC 302. He hopes to get the opportunity to face Du Plessis again next after suffering a close point loss to him.

For more information on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 305.