As UFC 293 came to a close, Sean Strickland stunned everyone by defeating Israel Adesanya to win the middleweight championship. Alexander Volkov and Manel Kape were on an interesting road before that thanks to some outstanding performances on the main card. Marc Raimondi, Jeff Wagenheim, and Brett Okamoto respond to the night’s most significant events.
Strickland
Everything was prepared for him by Israel Adesanya. He was fighting in Sydney, just a short flight from Auckland, New Zealand, where he lived. Adesanya had not competed in Australia since capturing the UFC middleweight title in 2019. He gave a magnificent performance back then, both inside the cage and during a daringly staged walkout. He was now back and ready to amuse the followers in his region of the earth.
But on Saturday, Sean Strickland, in a true shocker, made the UFC 293 main event into his show by pounding and walking over Adesanya for five rounds to win a unanimous decision and become the 185-pound champion.
As an Adesanya showcase, this event at Qudos Bank Arena was planned. Strickland was merely a Plan B opponent booked for the title battle because Dricus Du Plessis, who two months ago overcame former champion Robert Whittaker to become the top-ranked 185-pound contender, was unable to make this date. Strickland only had a two-fight winning streak and was far lower in the middleweight rankings. The American had no victories over any of the top five competitors in his record.
However, Strickland was prepared and eager, and despite being a 5-1 betting underdog, he was the ideal opponent for Adesanya. Strickland is a warrior who advances slowly while being unafraid of being struck. And Adesanya is renowned for his striking
But on this particular night, Adesanya was the victim of a blow. The worst of it happened late in Round 1 when Strickland downed the champion with a straight right hand before attacking with a barrage of left-handed haymakers on the floor. Adesanya made it to the final horn and even appeared to have won the second round on the scorecards, but the champion took much more punishment than he gave for the remainder of the fight.
Adesanya only made 34% of his shots land in the target. Furthermore, Strickland wasn’t difficult to locate. The champion was powerless to stop the challenger’s constant advancing forward.
How many miles did Strickland travel throughout the 25-minute fight? Estimating that is difficult. No one of those steps, however, was taken backwards, that much is evident. As the last seconds of Round 5 ticked off the clock, Strickland sensed the opportunity and began speaking to the victor as he walked him down. He had worn down Adesanya. Strickland triumphantly raised his arms as the horn sounded.
Strickland sobbed after hearing the judges’ scores, which were 49-46 across the board. The gold belt was fastened around his waist, and he hid his face. Then, as the audience cheered, Adesanya raised the arm of his victor. An instant passed.
Strickland, however, poses a fresh obstacle for the UFC. Additionally, Strickland has courted controversy with his racist, homophobic, and misogynistic remarks, making him a long cry from the dominant champions of the UFC’s past. Dana White has so far brushed off criticism of such remarks, but the victory against Adesanya has made it harder for the UFC to do so.
The days of Demetrious Johnson making 11 consecutive defences of the men’s flyweight title, Anderson Silva putting an end to 10 consecutive middleweight challengers’ hopes, and Georges St-Pierre dispatching nine consecutive welterweight opponents are long gone.
These days, a long-lasting UFC championship reign is uncommon. The only reigning champion with more than one title defence is Alexander Volkanovski, who has successfully defended his featherweight championship five times. Jon Jones, the heavyweight champion, made three defences in his second light heavyweight reign and eight in his first. The only UFC champion who won before last year is Volkanovski.
Think about how the championship picture has changed over the last five months. At UFC 292 three weeks ago, Sean O’Malley defeated Aljamain Sterling to win the men’s bantamweight championship. The unusual pay-per-view event with no championship fights was UFC 291. (The BMF belt was in play, but what kind of power does that represent? At men’s flyweight, Alexandre Pantoja defeated Brandon Moreno at UFC 290 in early July. At UFC 288, Amanda Nunes successfully defended her bantamweight title. However, she then announced her retirement, leaving two women’s championships unfilled. At UFC 288, Sterling kept his title, although his reign as champion was coming to an end. At UFC 287 in April, another title was handed over, and Adesanya reclaimed his champion status there. However, that position would soon be taken away from him once more.
A UFC championship run has changed from a marathon to a sprint. Five of the last seven UFC pay-per-views have seen titles exchange hands or champions leave their belts behind in different ways. There are three open positions at the top of the company’s 12 weight classes. Five winners have never defended their titles.
The middleweight division currently has a journeyman athlete holding the title. Strickland entered this night with a record of 2-2 in his previous four matches. There is no denying his success, though. He made the long journey to Adesanya’s homeland and earned the belt legitimately. And Strickland was one of the biggest underdogs to win the UFC championship in history.
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