After some delay, a challenger to Israel Adesanya’s UFC middleweight throne has been found for UFC 293 in Sydney next month.
American Sean Strickland will make the trip Down Under to challenge for Adesanya’s title, with UFC boss Dana White this morning confirming the bout would headline the card.
Adesanya was initially expected to meet South African Dricus du Plessis, with the two even facing off inside the UFC octagon after du Plessis’ impressive second-round TKO win over Robert Whittaker in early July. However, with just a nine-week turnaround between that bout and UFC 293 in Sydney on September 10, du Plessis reportedly opted to instead take time to recover from an injury.
It left the main event for the Sydney card up in the air; Adesanya was adamant he would fight in Sydney and asked for Strickland if du Plessis wouldn’t take the fight.
Strickland is ranked at No 5 in the UFC middleweight division, but comes in off the back of an impressive second-round TKO victory of his own against unranked fighter Abus Magomedov. Since returning from a two-year layoff from competition in 2020 following a motorcycle accident, Strickland holds a 7-2 record but does not hold a win over any athlete currently ranked in the top five.