Israel Adesanya vs. Sean Strickland official for UFC 293

Sean Strickland is finally getting his title shot.

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President, Dana White, announced today (Tues., Aug. 8, 2023), that UFC 293’s main event will see the Middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya (24-2), defend against the No. 5-ranked contender, Sean Strickland (27-5), in Sydney, Australia, on Sept. 10, 2023.

The booking comes after a tumultuous summer of speculation after Dricus Du Plessis’ big upset win over Robert Whittaker at UFC 290 last month (July 8, 2023). Du Plessis’ second round technical knockout (watch highlights) of “The Reaper” positioned him firmly as the new No. 1-ranked contender. He and Adesanya had already begun building an intense rivalry, and that boiled over in the Octagon following the win.

Unfortunately for Du Plessis, a foot injury suffered before the Whittaker win will now require some time to heal, preventing the South African from making the quick title shot turnaround.

Strickland, 32, will take Du Plessis’ spot fresh off two strong victories over Nassourdine Imavov and Abus Magomedov, the latter of which he finished with strikes in round two (watch highlights). This will be Strickland’s first mixed martial arts (MMA) fight outside the United States.

Adesanya will seek the first title defense of his second career reign with UFC gold at UFC 293. He reclaimed the divisional throne with a second round knockout in his MMA rematch against Alex Pereira at UFC 287 this past April 2023 (watch highlights).

The current 11-fight UFC 293 lineup can be seen below.

• 185 lbs.: (C)Israel Adesanya vs. Sean Strickland
• 265 lbs.: Tai Tuivasa vs. Alexander Volkov
• 155 lbs.: Jamie Mullarkey vs. John Makdessi
• 125 lbs.: Kai Kara-France vs. Manel Kape
• 205 lbs.: Carlos Ulberg vs. Da-un Jung
• 205 lbs.: Tyson Pedro vs. Anton Turkalj
• 265 lbs.: Justin Tafa vs. Austen Lane
• 145 lbs.: Jack Jenkins vs. Chepe Mariscal
• 145 lbs.: Shane Young vs. Gabriel Miranda
• 170 lbs.: Mike Diamond vs. Charlie Radtke
• 125 lbs.: Viviane Araujo vs. Jennifer Maia

LIVE! Watch UFC 293 PPV On ESPN+ Here!

MASSIVE MIDDLEWEIGHT MATCH! Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) makes its highly anticipated return to Sydney, Australia, for the first time in five years on Sat., Sept. 9, 2023, with a 185-pound world title fight inside Qudos Bank Arena. In the ESPN+-streamed pay-per-view (PPV) main event, Middleweight roost-ruler, Israel Adesanya, plans to silence No. 5-seeded contender, Sean Strickland. In UFC 293’s hard-hitting Heavyweight co-main event, No-6-ranked fan favorite, Tai Tuivasa, locks horns with towering Russian, Alexander Volkov (No. 8).

Don’t miss a single second of EPIC face-punching action!

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Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 293 fight card right here, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard on ESPNN/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.

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