Israel Adesanya of New Zealand reacts after knocking out Alex Pereira of Brazil in the UFC middleweight championship fight during the UFC 287 event at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida, April 8, 2023. /CFP
UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya of New Zealand will face challenger Sean Strickland of the U.S. as the main event for UFC 293 that will take place at the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia, on September 10, UFC president Dana White announced Tuesday.
Adesanya (24-2) has won the middleweight title twice and managed to defend the belt five times, the second-most in history, behind only Anderson Silva of Brazil (10 times). Last November, he lost it to Alex Pereira of Brazil via technical knockout (TKO) in UFC 281 in New York City.
In their rematch in UFC 287 in Miami, Florida, in April, Adesanya beat Pereira with a second-round knock out to win the middleweight title back.
Strickland (27-5) has won seven of his nine fights since moving up to the middleweight class in 2020. His got his latest victory over Abus Magomedov of Germany in UFC on ESPN in Las Vegas, Neveda, in July.
Sean Strickland of the U.S. is annoucned as the winner after beating Abus Magomedov of Germany in a middleweight fight during the UFC on ESPN at UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Neveda, July 1, 2023. /CFP
The UFC wanted a fight between Adesanya and the winner between Robert Whittaker of Australia and Dricus Du Plessis of South Africa for the UFC 293 main event, according to ESPN. Du Plessis beat Whittaker with a TKO in the second round at UFC 290 in Las Vegas, Neveda in July. He and Adesanya had a verbal confrontation after the fight.
Du Plessis said previously that he will be the first "real" African champion because he lives in South Africa. By contrast, Nigeria-born Adesanya and Kamaru Usman as well as Camerron-born Francis Ngannou all left the continent. Adesanya felt offended by such remarks.
It would have been a great fight between Adesanya and Du Plessis in the background above. However, ESPN revealed that Du Plessis has been dealing with an ankle injury and won't recover in time to fight Adesanya in September.