Israel Adesanya vs. Sean Strickland finally set to go down at UFC 293 in Sydney
Israel Adesanya will defend his middleweight title against Sean Strickland at UFC 293 in Sydney. UFC president Dana White recently confirmed the matchup via a social media announcement and outlined some other matchups slated to go down at the Qudos Bank Arena on September 10.
Adesanya was initially expected to face fast-rising middleweight contender Dricus Du Plessis for his next title defense. However, the South African was forced to pull out of the bout due to an injury he picked up during his fight against Robert Whittaker at UFC 290. After Du Plessis was unavailable, ‘The Last Stylebender’ campaigned to fight Strickland instead.
Adesanya and Strickland have a long-standing feud and will be looking to settle their differences in the cage. The two have previously taken several personal shots at each other via social media and interviews.
The co-main event of UFC 293 will feature a heavyweight contest between Tai Tuivasa and Alexander Volkov. Elsewhere on the card, Australian flyweight Kai Kara-France will go up against Manel Kape. Justin Tafa will also fight Austin Lane in another exciting heavyweight battle.
It was recently announced that an injury forced Casey O’Neill out of her bout against Viviane Araujo. Jennifer Maia has replaced the women’s flyweight contender and will face Araujo instead.
UFC 293: Kevin Holland on Israel Adesanya vs. Sean Strickland
Kevin Holland recently weighed in on the Israel Adesanya vs. Sean Strickland middleweight title fight at UFC 293 next month. ‘Trailblazer’ claimed that he doesn’t see ‘Tarzan’ posing too much of a challenge for Adesanya and predicts another successful title defense for the Nigerian-born Kiwi.
In an interview with Helen Yee, Holland claimed that neither Strickland nor Dricus Du Plessis posed a threat to Adesanya. He said:
“Either way, I think both of those fights are good fights for Izzy. I don’t see either one of those guys giving Izzy a problem. Du Plessis has been known to prove us wrong, and he’s fixed his nose, so maybe he’s a better fighter.”
He continued:
“I think Izzy picks him apart, Izzy picks Du Plessis apart… Izzy has more chances of knocking out Strickland because Strickland will take more chances than Du Plessis does.”
Watch the full interview below:
Israel Adesanya last defeated his longtime rival Alex Pereira and reclaimed the middleweight championship. The Nigerian-born Kiwi has put together one of the greatest resumes in UFC middleweight history and has effectively cleared the division. Meanwhile, Sean Strickland is on a two-fight win streak and will be looking to extend that at UFC 293 in September.
