Coming into the fight as a heavy underdog and ranked fifth in the middleweight division; Sean Strickland shocks Israel Adesanya to become champion at UFC 293; judges all scored it 49-46 at the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney
Sean Strickland became the new middleweight champion on Saturday night by beating Israel Adesanya by unanimous decision in the main event of UFC 293 in Sydney.
In a huge shock from the man ranked fifth in the middleweight division, the cards read 49-46, 49-46, 49-46 in favour of Strickland (28-5-0), who has won three consecutive UFC bouts and nine of his last 11. Adesanya (24-3-0) has lost two of his last three fights.
Strickland landed 137 strikes compared to Adesanya’s 94 to take the belt.
“Am I dreaming? Am I going to wake up? Somebody hit me,” Strickland said in the Octagon after the biggest fight of his career.
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“Oh my God guys. Literally, never in a million years did I thought I would be here
In other action, Alexander Volkov (37-10-0) used an Ezekiel choke to best Tai Tuivasa (15-6-0) in a heavyweight match. In a flyweight battle, Manel Kape (19-6-0) used 77 strikes to the head to topple Felipe dos Santos (7-1-0) by unanimous decision, with the cards reading 30-27, 29-28, 29-28.
Justin Tafa (7-3-0) won his heavyweight bout, and Tyson Pedro (10-4-0) prevailed in a light heavyweight skirmish.
