Summary:
- UFC will return to Sydney, Australia after 6 years for UFC 293
- The Main Event will see Israel Adesanya defend his belt against Sean Strickland
- UFC 293 will take place on Sep 10 at the Qudos Bank Arena
The UFC had confirmed a few months earlier that they will host a pay per view card in Sydney, Australia in September but did not confirm the Main Event which surprised MMA fans as the UFC tends to announce a pay per view card along with the Main Event.
With just over a month left for UFC 293 in Sydney, Australia, UFC President Dana White took to social media to confirm the Main Event.
Australian MMA bettors were pretty certain that UFC middleweight champ Israel Adesanya who lives in New Zealand was going to headline the card but they were not sure who is opponent was going to be.
South African MMA star Dricus du Plessis was in line for the next title shot but was not prepared to fight in September and as a result, the Adesanya and the UFC agreed for a fight against no 5 ranked Sean Strickland. A few weeks earlier, Strickland told MMA media that he would not fight in Australia as he wasn’t getting the money he wanted from the UFC.
The UFC appears to have sorted out the behind the scenes drama and have now officially confirmed that UFC 293 which takes place at the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney will be headlined by a 5 round Main Event between Adesanya and Strickland.
We must point out that UFC 293 will take place on Sep 10 in Australia but it will still be Sep 09 for MMA fans in the United States. This will be the 11th consecutive title fight that Adesanya will be in and the first UFC title fight for Strickland.
Australian fans would have preferred to see Adesanya vs. Dricus du Plessis as there’s bad blood between the two but will have to settle for Adesanya vs Strickland.
The UFC has packed this card with a number of ANZAC fighters in order to please their Australian and New Zealand fans. The co-Main Event will see a heavyweight showdown between Aussie Tai Tuivasa and Russian Alexander Volkov.
Some of the other ANZAC fighters on this card include Kai Kara-France, John Makdessi, Tyson Pedro and Justin Tafa.
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