Israel Adesanya’s next middleweight title defense won’t be against the opponent he wanted, but it will be on the date he wanted.
After Dricus Du Plessis became unavailable due to a lingering injury, Adesanya (24-2 MMA, 13-2 UFC) will now attempt to make the first defense of his second 185-pound title reign against Sean Strickland (27-5 MMA, 14-5 UFC) in the main event of UFC 293. UFC president Dana White announced the fight on Tuesday.
UFC 293 takes place Sept. 9 at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims expected on ESPN and ESPN+.
Adesanya, No. 4 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie pound-for-pound rankings, had hoped to face Du Plessis at UFC 293 after the South African scored a stunning upset of Robert Whittaker at UFC 290 this month. The pair had a heated staredown inside the octagon, setting the stage for a deeply personal grudge match many expected to push the boundaries of pre-fight animosity.
According to Adesanya, 33, however, Du Plessis has a “sore foot” and wasn’t willing to make the nine-week turnaround from UFC 290, and as a result, he decided to move on to the next opponent in the queue.
That gives the opportunity to No. 7-ranked middleweight Strickland, who is coming off a second-round TKO of Abus Magomedov in the UFC on ESPN 48 main event this month. Strickland has been talking about his desire to fight Adesanya for nearly two years, and the pair got into an expletive-filled exchange at the UFC 276 pre-fight press conference in July 2022.
Strickland, 32, has won eight of his past 10 fights dating back to May 2018, with his lone defeats coming to Jared Cannonier and former champ Alex Pereira.
The latest UFC 293 lineup now includes:
- Israel Adesanya vs. Sean Strickland – for middleweight title
- Tai Tuivasa vs. Alexander Volkov
- Viviane Araujo vs. Casey O’Neill
- Da-un Jung vs. Carlos Ulberg
- Manel Kape vs. Kai Kara-France
- Austen Lane vs. Justin Tafa
- Gabriel Miranda vs. Shane Young
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 293.
