Watch UFC 293 Countdown video for a deep dive into the UFC’s return to Sydney, this Saturday, headlined by a middleweight title battle between Israel Adesanya and Sean Strickland.
This time final 12 months, Adesanya was on prime of the MMA world. With 5 profitable title defenses to his identify, “The Final Stylebender” was beginning to make his declare as the best middleweight of all time till catastrophe struck within the type of his previous nemesis, Alex Pereira, with Adesanya shedding the belt at UFC 281. Thankfully, Adesanya rebounded with a ferocious knockout of Pereira of their MMA rematch at UFC 287 and now as soon as once more sits atop the 185-pound division. He appears to be like to start his second title run in model with a win over Strickland.
At the moment No. 5 within the UFC’s middleweight rankings, Strickland is the beneficiary of fine timing because the presumptive No. 1 contender, Dricus du Plessis, was unable to make the fast turnaround to face Adesanya at UFC 293. In stepped Strickland who’s 2-0 in 2023 with wins over Nassourdine Imavov and Abus Magomedov.
The co-main occasion figures to be a slugfest because the fan favourite Australian Tai Tuivasa takes on Alexander Volkov in a matchup of top-10 heavyweights. Final 12 months, Tuivasa discovered himself on the cusp of title competition earlier than shedding back-to-back fights to Ciryl Gane and Sergei Pavlovich which have left him reeling. In distinction, Volkov is coming off back-to-back first spherical stoppage victories over Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Alexander Romanov, placing “Drago” in prime place to make a run on the top-five with a win on Saturday.
Try the complete UFC 293 Countdown video above.
