Sean Strickland defeated Israel Adesanya and became the new middleweight champion at UFC 293
American fighter Sean Strickland defeated Israel Adesanya to become the new middleweight champion at UFC 293. Sean won after all three judges awarded points 49-46 for Strickland's victory.
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| Sean Strickland celebrates after his win over Israel Adesanya at UFC 293. (Photo: Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images) |
Strickland's victory made Adesanya have to be willing to lose his middleweight world title in the UFC. Strickland was crowned the new world champion at middleweight of the mixed martial arts competition.
The course of the fight
In the fight that took place at the Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney, Australia, the smell of rivalry between the two fighters was felt before the match began where they were reluctant to high-five. Of course, that's not too surprising because Adesanya and Strickland do hate each other.
As soon as the first round started, Strickland appeared very aggressive. He tried to take the initiative to attack first, but he was narrowly missed by Adesanya's head kick. It was fortunate that the kick missed.
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Even so, Strickland continued to move forward, while Adesanya followed his rhythm while reading the opponent's movements. The champion then threw kicks that hit Strickland's body several times.
However, towards the last second, the defending champion from Nigeria was knocked down by Strickland with his right fist. Adesanya was seriously wounded but was still able to continue the fight.
In the second round, Adesanya began to play more attacking with jabs and leg kicks. Strickland, meanwhile, seemed more patient at the beginning of this round.
Then, the two boxers traded attacks through punches and kicks that hit each other. Strickland ended the second round with a kick that hit Adesanya.
Entering the third round, Strickland tried to lock Adesanya. But his efforts were still unsuccessful. Then, Adesanya countered with punches and jabs that hit the opponent.
The two boxers also fought each other several times and exchanged punches in the final minutes of this round. However, Strickland was able to hit Adesanya more even though their points were very narrowly adrift.
Adesanya continued to move over the octagon as Strickland continued to advance closer to him in the fourth round. However, Adesanya managed to hit his opponent with a beautiful combination of left hook punches.
Then, Strickland countered with his right and left-hand punches. However, Adesanya countered again with a swing of his right hand that hit the challenger's jaw.
In the last round, Adesanya tried to play more aggressively to defend his title. He fired a kick that combined with his action and was able to hit Strickland.
However, Strickland was able to press again and continued to beat Adesanya with his punches. The buying and selling of attacks continued until finally, this fight ended. With his aggressive style from the start, Strickland successfully came out as the winner through the decision of the three judges who all gave him a score of 49-46.