In Saturday’s UFC 293 main event, Strickland won a unanimous decision over Israel Adesanya to claim the middleweight title and pull off one of the biggest upsets in MMA history. Today we will discuss about Israel Adesanya vs Sean Strickland: Who won| Results| Fight.
Israel Adesanya vs Sean Strickland: Who won| Results| Fight
Sean Strickland is the No. 1 middleweight in the world. The numbers don’t lie. In Saturday’s UFC 293 main event, Strickland won a unanimous decision over Israel Adesanya to claim the middleweight title and pull off one of the biggest upsets in MMA history. After five rounds of striking, the judges scored Strickland’s efforts a trio of 49–46 points in her favor.
Although the fight was tense, the outcome became clear as the fight progressed, with Strickland hurting Adesanya badly in Round 1 and keeping the pressure on for the next 20 minutes. It looked as if Adesanya would need a late finish to reach the final round, but that never happened, and as the last seconds ticked away, an excited Strickland celebrated.
All three judges, Eric Colon, David Lethaby and Clemens Werner, agreed on the verdict.
Strickland is now the UFC champion in his 20th fight for the promotion, while Adesanya lost the middleweight title for the second time in 10 months.
Who won
UFC 293: Sean Strickland defeats Israel Adesanya to become the new middleweight champion. Strickland dropped “The Last Stylebender” early on and never looked back.
Results
Sean Strickland shocked the world and did the unthinkable by defeating Israel Adesanya with a unanimous decision victory to become the new middleweight champion in the main event of UFC 293 at the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia.
Rivals like Matt Serra defeating Georges St-Pierre, Holly Holm defeating Ronda Rousey and Julianna Pena defeating Amanda Nunes, Strickland defeating Adesanya will be talked about for years. It wasn’t just Strickland’s victory, Strickland won in style as he knocked out Adesanya over the course of 25 minutes – widely recognized as the best striker in MMA – winning a pair of titles in the UFC. For he had never been seen before.
Strickland applied the pressure from the start and kept Adesanya at bay with a disciplined attack from the opening bell. He never left himself alone and maintained a steady pace with a strong jab and right hand. Adesanya tried to start with a feint but Strickland refused to take the bait as he continued to advance without stopping.
The tone was really set in the second round when Strickland dropped Adesanya with a right hand and landed a series of right hands until the round ended. From that point on, it was all Strickland as he won the final three rounds and prevented Adesanya from doing anything major.
Adesanya was originally scheduled to face Darius du Plessis, but with du Plessis unavailable and options limited, the UFC turned to Strickland to ensure Adesanya would headline UFC 293 in Australia.
Fight
When two people face off to fight, expect the unexpected. It happened again on Saturday night when Sean Strickland, fighting on a month’s notice, flew to Australia and snatched the middleweight crown from defending champion Israel Adesanya in the main event of UFC 293.
Strickland was the better fighter on the night as he pressured Adesanya throughout the five rounds and kept the long-reigning champ off balance and uncomfortable at first. Strickland scored a wicked knockdown in the first round with a beautiful counter right hand that nearly knocked Adesanya out. The winner managed to survive until the end of the round, but could never muster enough aggression to justify scoring the round in his favor.
Elsewhere on the card, Alexander Volkov scored a second-round submission of hometown favorite Tai Tuivasa with Ezekiel Choke. The former Bellator Heavyweight Champion isolated the Australian fighter on the legs and then took him down to full mount, where he crushed Tuivasa for a unique submission. Additionally, both Justin Tafa and Tyson Pedro were able to please the hometown fans with first round knockouts in brutal fashion.
