Video: Israel Adesanya cracks pads at UFC 293 open workouts, includes fans in pushup contest

Israel Adesanya involved fans during the UFC 293 open workouts – but in a slightly different way than Sean Strickland.

Middleweight champion Adesanya (24-2 MMA, 13-2 UFC) defends his title against Strickland (27-5 MMA, 14-5 UFC) in Saturday’s headliner at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPNews/ESPN+ and early prelims on ESPN+.

Strickland brought a fan onto the stage for a quick sparring session, whereas Adesanya invited them on for a pushup contest. He also tossed some T-shirts into the crowd, and hit some mitts.

You can watch his full open workout session in the video above.

Adesanya will make his first title defense in his new reign after re-gaining his middleweight title from Alex Pereira at UFC 287 in April. “The Stylebender” avenged his loss to Pereira by knocking him out cold in Round 2 of their title-fight rematch.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 293.