Israel Adesanya is scheduled to defend his UFC middleweight title against Sean Strickland, after the number one contender, Dricus Du Plessis, was unable to make the date.
The much-anticipated fight between Israel Adesanya and Dricus Du Plessis has been postponed. The current holder of the UFC middleweight title, Adesanya, is now set to defend his belt against Sean Strickland. This event is going to take place as the main event of UFC 293 on September 10, as announced by the UFC on Tuesday, following an initial report by Spinnin Backfist. The Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia, will host the fight.
Initially, Adesanya had plans to contend with du Plessis at UFC 293. However, once it became clear that du Plessis, who is the division’s No. 1 contender, would not be able to make it to the said date, Adesanya quickly switched gears and decided to face Strickland instead. Adesanya, a native of Nigeria aged 34, is a globally-famed fighter. He currently holds the No. 5 spot in world’s pound-for-pound rankings and is a two-time UFC champion. He regained his middleweight title with a second-round knockout of Alex Pereira in April. From 2019-2022, during his first reign as the UFC champion, he successfully defended his title five times, defeating fighters like Robert Whittaker (twice), Marvin Vettori, and Paulo Costa, amongst others.
Standing as Adesanya’s contender, Sean Strickland has a record of 27-5 and is ranked as the world’s No. 9 middleweight. Known for his outspoken nature, the 32-year-old Strickland has emerged victorious in his last two bouts against Nassourdine Imavov and Abusupiyan Magomedov, bouncing back from defeats at the hands of Pereira and Jared Cannonier. These were the first two back-to-back losses in his career. The UFC 293’s main card will also feature a heavyweight co-main event, Tai Tuivasa versus Alexander Volkov, followed by flyweights Kai Kara-France and Manel Kape. Additionally, a women’s flyweight bout between Viviane Araujo and Jennifer Maia has been recently included in the card. The UFC 293 card currently includes several exciting matches, including a face-off between Israel Adesanya and Sean Strickland for the UFC Middleweight Title.