Watch UFC 293 Countdown video for a deep dive into the UFC’s return to Sydney, this Saturday, headlined by a middleweight title fight between Israel Adesanya and Sean Strickland.
This time last year, Adesanya was on top of the MMA world. With five successful title defenses to his name, “The Last Stylebender” was starting to make his claim as the greatest middleweight of all time until disaster struck in the form of his old nemesis, Alex Pereira, with Adesanya losing the belt at UFC 281. Fortunately, Adesanya rebounded with a ferocious knockout of Pereira in their MMA rematch at UFC 287 and now once again sits atop the 185-pound division. He looks to begin his second title run in style with a win over Strickland.
Currently No. 5 in the UFC’s middleweight rankings, Strickland is the beneficiary of good timing as the presumptive No. 1 contender, Dricus du Plessis, was unable to make the quick turnaround to face Adesanya at UFC 293. In stepped Strickland who is 2-0 in 2023 with wins over Nassourdine Imavov and Abus Magomedov.
The co-main event figures to be a slugfest as the fan favorite Australian Tai Tuivasa takes on Alexander Volkov in a matchup of top-10 heavyweights. Last year, Tuivasa found himself on the cusp of title contention before losing back-to-back fights to Ciryl Gane and Sergei Pavlovich that have left him reeling. In contrast, Volkov is coming off back-to-back first round stoppage victories over Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Alexander Romanov, putting “Drago” in prime position to make a run at the top-five with a win on Saturday.
Check out the full UFC 293 Countdown video above.
