Conclusions from UFC 293: Strickland’s surprise win continues a shocking trend in the UFC

At the end of UFC 293, middleweight champion Sean Strickland shocked the world by defeating Israel Adesanya. Before that, Alexander Volkov and Manel Kape had shown promise with their performances on the main card. The night’s key events are discussed by Brett Okamoto, Marc Raimondi, and Jeff Wagenheim.

Everything was ready for Israel Adesanya. From his hometown of Auckland, New Zealand, he made the short trip across the Tasman Sea to fight in Sydney. After winning the UFC middleweight title in 2019, this was Adesanya’s first fight in Australia. Both inside the cage and during a daringly choreographed exit, he delivered a stunning performance. Now he was back where his fans wanted him to be, ready to perform for them once more.

On the other hand, the main event of UFC 293 was a one-man show for Sean Strickland, who dominated Israel Adesanya for five rounds and won by unanimous decision to become the new 185-pound champion.

This Qudos Bank Arena show was planned specifically to feature Adesanya. When Dricus Du Plessis, who had become the top-ranked 185-pound contender two months ago by defeating former champ Robert Whittaker, was unable to make this date, Strickland was booked as a Plan B opponent for the title fight. Strickland was ranked quite low for a middleweight and his winning streak was only two bouts long. The American’s resume lacked any victories over the top five players.

Despite being a 5-1 betting underdog, Strickland proved to be the ideal opponent for Adesanya. Strickland is the type of combatant who keeps moving forward regardless of damage taken. Adesanya’s reputation rests on his ability to land blows.
However, Adesanya was the one who took the blow tonight. Late in Round 1, Strickland unleashed a straight right hand that felled the champion, and he then pounced on the unconscious fighter with a barrage of left-handed haymakers. Adesanya made it to the bell and even won the second round on the scorecards, but the champion took a lot more punishment than he gave.

Only 34% of Adesanya’s blows landed. Strickland wasn’t exactly hard to locate, either. The challenger kept making progress, and the defending champion did nothing to stop him.

Strickland fought for 25 minutes; how many kilometers did he cover? Inaccurate estimation is likely. One thing is certain, though: none of those moves were in the wrong direction. After wearing out Adesanya, Strickland began talking to the champion as they walked him down in the waning seconds of Round 5. Strickland celebrated by raising his arms at the sound of the horn.

Strickland became emotional after hearing the final score of 49-46 from all three judges. As the gold belt was being fastened around his waist, he hid his face. As the crowd cheered, Adesanya raised the arm of his victor. A split second passed.

Nevertheless, Strickland is a fresh test for the UFC. Strickland is a far cry from the previous UFC champions, and he has actively sought out controversy by making offensive remarks about race, homosexuality, and sexism. While UFC president Dana White has thus far downplayed any cause for alarm, the victory against Adesanya has made it more difficult to do so.

Demetrious Johnson’s run of 11 straight defenses of the men’s flyweight title, Anderson Silva’s run of 10 straight defeats of middleweight challengers, and Georges St-Pierre’s run of 9 straight defeats of welterweight challengers are long gone.

Read More: The United States’ FIBA World Cup run was ended by Germany in the semi-finals.

A lengthy title defense in the UFC is unusual in modern times. Only Alexander Volkanovski, the featherweight champion, has successfully defended his title more than once. (During his first stint as light heavyweight champion, Jon Jones successfully defended his title eight times.) Only Volkanovski among the active UFC champions was crowned before 2016.

Think about how much has changed in the championship picture in the last five months. At UFC 292, three weeks ago, Sean O’Malley defeated Aljamain Sterling and won the men’s bantamweight championship. UFC 291 was the uncommon PPV to not feature a title fight.

(The BMF championship belt was on the line, but what does that really represent?) Alexandre Pantoja defeated Brandon Moreno to win the men’s flyweight title at UFC 290 in early July. After defending her bantamweight championship successfully at UFC 288, Amanda Nunes announced her retirement, leaving both women’s division belts uncontested. At UFC 288, Sterling was able to defend his title, but he knew his time as champion was limited. And at April’s UFC 287, Adesanya once again became champion, only to have the belt taken from under him.

The road to the UFC title is now a dash, not a marathon. Five of the last seven UFC pay-per-views have seen title changes or champions otherwise relinquish their titles. There are vacancies at the very top in three of the company’s twelve weight categories. Zero title defenses have been made by five champions.

A journeyman boxer is now champion of the middleweight category. Before this, Strickland has fought four times and was 2-2. But nobody can take away from him the success he has achieved. He flew halfway around the world to Adesanya’s hometown to challenge him for the belt, and he won. Strickland was also one of the biggest underdogs to win the UFC championship.

If Strickland follows the present pattern, his time at the top will be brief. But will he have staying power? And will he improve the game during his tenure, however long it may be? It’s about to be revealed to us.