FILE – Israel Adesanya reacts after knocking out Alex Pereira of their middleweight title match through the UFC 287 occasion on the Kaseya Middle on April 8, 2023, in downtown Miami. (Matias J. Ocner/Miami Herald by way of AP, File)
SYDNEY — Nigerian-born New Zealander Israel Adesanya may have some Southern Hemisphere help when he takes on American title challenger Sean Strickland in the principle occasion of UFC 293 on Sunday.
The battle at Sydney Olympic Park’s Qudos Financial institution Area — throughout the Tasman Sea from Adesanya’s base in New Zealand — will give the middleweight champion a possibility so as to add a submission, or faucet out, to his battle outcomes repertoire.
A submission sees an opponent verbally concede the match as a result of ache or to keep away from additional damage. Adesanya’s 26 skilled combined martial arts fights embody 16 wins by knockout and eight by way of resolution (together with two losses), however none by submission.
“What do I would like in my profession? Submission, I positively desire a submission,” Adesanya instructed media this week. “It is likely to be this battle. I do know he’s going to wrestle. He’d be dumb to not. I do know he’s going to attempt to combine it up. He’s doing this entire factor, ‘Man dance, man dance.’”
It’s the primary time since 2017 {that a} UFC battle has been held in Australia’s largest metropolis, and the second UFC card in Australia this 12 months.
In February in Perth, Western Australia, Islam Makhachev defied a sustained problem from Alexander Volkanovski to take care of his supremacy within the light-weight division.
Within the lead-up to the title bout — which is timed to coincide with Saturday evening within the profitable pay-per-view TV market in North America — the 32-year-old Strickland, with a file of 27-5, has claimed he’s joyful to face and field with Adesanya, though he believes his greatest probability is by wrestling with the champ.
on this UFC handout, Sean Strickland poses on the dimensions through the UFC Battle Night time weigh-in at UFC APEX on December 16, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC/AFP
Adesanya and Strickland don’t like one another a lot — each have traded barbs prior to now. At UFC 276 in Paradise, Nevada in 2022, they have been solely a brief distance away from one another, yelling, which began what has turn into a wholesome rivalry.
Ought to Adesanya win on Sunday, there are a number of query marks as to who he’ll battle subsequent.
The 34-year-old Adesanya was set to tackle Dricus du Plessis after he beat Robert Whittaker in a No. 1 contender match, however the South African turned down the UFC 293 battle, citing extra restoration time wanted and permitting Strickland to earn the call-up.
Adesanya criticized du Plessis for not taking the possibility to battle for the title — “he (du Plessis) doesn’t name the photographs, I do.”
STRICKLAND CONTROVERSY
Outdoors of the hexagon, the UFC battle made information within the New South Wales state legislature, the place the main authorities lawmaker was pressured to defend his state’s cost of about $10 million to assist make sure the UFC occasion got here to Sydney.
Strickland made sexist and misogynistic feedback throughout a media convention this week, echoing feedback he’s made beforehand.
Premier Chris Minns described the feedback as “completely appalling.” However he stated your complete sport couldn’t be tarnished by “obnoxious” feedback from one fighter.
“There’s hundreds of thousands of folks that love the game, that observe it and don’t maintain these views in any respect,” Minns stated Thursday.
HEAVYWEIGHTS ON MAIN CARD
The heavyweight bout between 30-year-old Sydney-born Tai Tuivasa and Russian Alexander Volkov, 34, can also be on the principle card and can precede the title battle. Tuivasa is 15-5 after having misplaced his final two fights and Volkov is 36-10.
Additionally on the principle card: Manel Kape vs. Felipe dos Santos; Justin Tafa vs. Austen Lane; Tyson Pedro vs. Anton Turkalj.
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