Israel Adesanya set to defend middleweight title in main event of UFC 293 against Sean Strickland

Israel Adesanya will be defending his middleweight title in Australia.

UFC president Dana White announced on Tuesday that Adesanya is set to take on Sean Strickland in the main event of UFC 293 on September 9. The event will take place in Sydney, Australia.

BREAKING: Sydney, your #UFC293 main event is official!! 🚨🇦🇺 pic.twitter.com/D2t7xTy8Ns

— UFC (@ufc) August 8, 2023

The news comes after it was uncertain if Israel Adesanya would remain on the card and defend his belt. Initially, he was supposed to fight Dricus Du Plessis. But the South African suffered a minor injury in his TKO win over Robert Whittaker and couldn’t make the quick turnaround. Following that, Adesanya said Strickland would be next in line, but weeks went by before the deal was finally made for the title bout to happen.

Adesanya and Strickland’s recent fights

Israel Adesanya (24-2) reclaimed his middleweight title back in April as he scored a second-round KO win over Alex Pereira. Prior to that, he suffered a fifth-round TKO loss to Pereira to lose his middleweight title.

RELATED: Jamahal Hill explains why he wasn’t impressed with Alex Pereira’s win over Jan Blachowicz.

Adesanya is 13-2 in the UFC and has defended his middleweight title five times. Inside the Octagon, he holds notable wins over Jared Cannonier, Robert Whittaker (x2), Yoel Romero, Anderson Silva, and Marvin Vettori (x2), among others.

Sean Strickland (27-5) extended his win streak to two his last time out as he scored a second-round knockout win over Abus Magomedov. Prior to that, he beat Nassourdine Imavov at light heavyweight in a fight that he took on short notice. The win over Imavov got him back into the win column after he lost a controversial split decision to Cannonier and was knocked out by Pereira.

Strickland is currently ranked fifth at middleweight. In the UFC, he’s 14-5 with notable wins over Jack Hermansson, Uriah Hall, and Brendan Allen among others.

With Israel Adesanya vs. Sean Strickland official, UFC 293 now looks as follows:

• Israel Adesanya vs. Sean Strickland
• Tai Tuivasa vs. Alexander Volkov
• Da-un Jung vs. Carlos Ulberg
• Manel Kape vs. Kai Kara-France
• Austen Lane vs. Justin Tafa
• Gabriel Miranda vs. Shane Young
• Jack Jenkins vs. Chepe Mariscal
• Blood Diamond vs. Charlie Radtke
• Tyson Pedro vs. Anton Turkalj
• Jamie Mullarkey vs. John Makdessi