It took just over four weeks until the event to get an official announcement, but Israel Adesanya will get his desired opportunity to fight close to home in Sydney when he meets Sean Strickland in the UFC 293 main event on Sept. 9.
After the originally planned middleweight title matchup with Dricus Du Plessis fell through due to injury, Adesanya (24-2 MMA, 12-2 UFC) was adamant he wanted to stay on the card, and he didn’t care about which challenger was standing across from him.
Given the fact he’s already cleared out of the top-five ranked contenders in his division, the logical opponent was Strickland (27-5 MMA, 14-5 UFC), though there appeared to be some hesitation on the UFC’s side to make the fight. Ultimately cooler heads prevailed, but questions remain about whether the matchup makes sense, and whether the pre-fight talk could be an ugly look for the sport.
Strickland is 2-2 in his past four fights, and despite coming off a second-round TKO of Abus Magomedov at UFC on ESPN 48 in July, the public perception, betting lines, and even Adesanya himself, give him little chance of claiming gold.
MMA Junkie’s “Spinning Back Clique” panel of Nolan King, Brian Garcia and Dan Tom joined host “Gorgeous” George Garcia and reacted to the booking, as well as assessed Strickland’s chances and what the lead-up to the fight could look like.
Watch the segment above, and Monday’s complete episode of “Spinning Back Clique” below.
Video: Did UFC make right call caving to Israel Adesanya’s wish for Sean Strickland in Sydney?