UFC free fight: Sean Strickland scores TKO win over Abus Magomedov to win Performance of the Night bonus

Sean Strickland is fighting for UFC gold, and he’s entering the biggest fight of his career, coming off one of his best wins in recent years.

At UFC on ESPN 48 in July, Strickland headlined the UFC Apex card against Abus Magomedov. That night in Las Vegas, Strickland handed Magomedov his first loss in the octagon. He had to survive a rough first round, but came back strong in the second to overwhelm Magomedov and eventually get the TKO win.

You can watch the full video of the fight above.

Strickland returns to the octagon on Sept. 9 to challenge UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya. The two headline UFC 293, which goes down at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia.

Strickland (27-5 MMA, 14-5 UFC) is on a two-fight winning streak since losing to Pereira and Jared Cannonier in 2022. Before the win over Magomedov, Strickland had defeated Nassourdine Imavov in January.

Adesanya (24-2 MMA, 13-2 UFC) is coming off a KO win over nemesis Alex Pereira in the main event of UFC 287 back in April. It was an immediate rematch that had Adesanya get his belt back, having lost to Pereira by TKO in November 2022.