UFC fighter Sean Strickland reveals he PUNCHED a fan in Bondi street assault ahead of Sydney clash with Israel Adesanya

UFC star Sean Strickland punched a fan in the street ahead of his championship fight with Israel Adesanya, the controversial American has revealed.

Strickland, 32, was absent from the first major event of UFC 293 fight week – a Welcome to Country in Barangaroo Reserve – amid speculation the NSW government doesn’t want him to jeopardize their $16 million spend on MMA.

The American will take on the all-conquering Adesanya in a sold-out Qudos Bank Arena on Sunday and has lifted the lid on an ugly interaction with a fan in Bondi.

“At first I thought the man was coming over for a picture,” he said Fox sport.

(Then he said) ‘Izzy wants to get you in trouble.

“Boom, right in the guts,” he says, describing his reaction.

“I had only been in Australia for a day and had already committed a sexual assault.

“If you want to come over to me and open your goddamn mouth, I’ll hit you like I hit someone else.

Upcut against his stomach. Then I walked away. But when I see the man again, man, no problem … I’ll thank him for not pressing charges.’

The polarizing American is an ex-white supremacist and has made controversial statements about women and race in the past.

Adesanya recently stated that convincing was needed from the top of the UFC for the fight to even take place due to concerns about what Strickland might say.

Strickland landed in Sydney earlier this week and gave a positive review of the city during a UFC 293 Embedded vlog.

“So I talk about Australia a lot because it’s kind of weird, you’re all descendants of convicts, and yet you have a really nice city,” Strickland said.

“How the hell did that happen?”

A while later, he took to Twitter to give fans more of his thoughts on the port city.

“I’m in Sydney and I thought I’d be surrounded by dirty liberals,” he wrote.

“Gay and trans flags everywhere… Literally zero… maybe America is the problem, lmao!”