UFC 293 Preview

The UFC will be invading Sydney, Australia on Saturday August 9th for UFC 293 at the Qudos Bank Arena. The main event will be in the middleweight division between champion Israel Adesanya and #5 Sean Strickland.

Adesanya will be making his first title defense for his second run as middleweight champion, after winning back the belt in April at UFC 287. He defeated long-time rival Alex Pereira by second round KO to become a two-time champion and solidify his spot as the greatest middleweight in the world.

This title defense against Strickland comes with a different challenge as Adesanya will be battling the most outspoken opponent he has faced during his time in the UFC. Dating back to UFC 281, Strickland has verbally attacked Adesanya with not only critique on his reign as a champion, but personal attacks as well.

Is this a dangerous game to play for Strickland? Will we see a different Adesanya in the octagon? Strickland has taken full advantage of the opportunity to run his mouth whether there is a microphone in his face or not.  "This is his moment," Adesanya said. "Sunday afternoon it's my moment. Sunday, I'm going to knock this motherf---er out."

The champion continued, "He's talking all this s---, but he should be grateful. I got him his first passport. I got him his first flight out of his country. I got him this big-money fight," Adesanya said. "He tries to act like a tough guy, but there's no danger with him. He's that idiot at the back of the class who talks over you and talks loud just to get his point across."

Many pundits have questioned Adesanya’s decision to defend against Strickland. The 34-year-old has responded to his critics.  “You can't punish me for my own greatness,” Adesanya said. “(I) just didn’t want to fight the same people again. I like fresh blood, and Sean, I think he's dangerous. He does some things really well against other people, so my job is to make sure it doesn't work against me. I'm used to doing that when it comes to fighting, and f*** everything else. This is about fighting.”

Adesanya is looking for a big result on Saturday. “This is like a once in a while thing, but people like to hold on to it,” he said. “It's special for this. I just feel like I need to knock this guy out with some drip tips.”

With a win over Strickland, Adesanya is expected to defend next against Dricus Du Plessis as he has also had a verbal back and forth with the South African. Adesanya must first get passed Strickland who is dangerous because he has nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Strickland is riding two straight victories into his first title shot. He most recently defeated Abusupiyan Magomedov by second round TKO in July, in a fight where he was the underdog against a rising contender. The 32-year-old has not been shy about leveraging personal attacks against Adesanya into gaining interest in this fight.

"He's a f---ing cringe lord," Strickland said at media day Wednesday. "Everything that guy does just makes you f---ing wince. When someone sucks to that degree, it's pretty easy to make fun of them."

While at times it is difficult to tell when Strickland is being cringe for the sake of cringe or being genuine, he has acknowledged leading up to this fight that Adesanya is dangerous. Despite this, Strickland believes he has what it takes to become champion.

"When I walk in that f---ing cage ... I want to go and win that belt for you guys," Strickland said Thursday. "And I want to bring some pride back to the middleweight division. I've got what it takes. I'm ready. I'm up for it."

Strickland has gained massive attention from the MMA community for his not so popular takes on culture and society. He has gained a fan-base by being unapologetic about who he is and why he is a fighter. It only took a day in Australia for him to live up to his reputation as he was seen punching a fan in the stomach.

“Boom, right in the guts,” Strickland said. “I’d only been in Australia a day and already I’d committed an assault. Initially, I thought the guy was coming up for a photo. Because anybody who wants a photo, man, I love the fans. But if you wanna come up to me and run your f…ing mouth, I’ll smack you like I smack anybody else.”

Most analysts are not giving Strickland a chance to win, but he has the advantage of knowing that as the underdog, people think he has nothing to lose and everything to gain. That is a comfortable place for a challenger to be and dangerous place for a champion. But Adesanya has proven that even when rattled, he is willing to enter the fire to achieve a victory.

Strickland is believed to have the better wrestling, but he prefers to stand and bang with a fighter even if they have superior striking. He does use forward moving pressure to his advantage, but Adesanya has plenty of weapons to counter that type of style. If Strickland can get out of the first two rounds, the fight could get interesting as the pressure continues to mount on Adesanya.

The rest of the main card:

Heavyweight - #6Tai Tuivasa vs. #7Alexander Volkov

Flyweight - Manel Kape vs. Felipe dos Santos

Heavyweight - Justin Tafa vs. Austen Lane

Light Heavyweight - Tyson Pedro vs. Anton Turkalj

ESPN + Prelims:

Light Heavyweight - Carlos Ulberg vs. Jung Da-un

Featherweight - Jack Jenkins vs. Chepe Mariscal

Lightweight - Jamie Mullarkey vs. John Makdessi

Lightweight - Nasrat Haqparast vs. Landon Quiñones

Early Prelims on ESPN+ and UFC Fight Pass:

Welterweight - Mike Mathetha vs. Charlie Radtke

Featherweight - Shane Young vs. Gabriel Miranda

Welterweight - Kevin Jousset vs. Kiefer Crosbie