Sean Strickland wins middleweight title at UFC 293

Sean Strickland is the new UFC middleweight champion.

Strickland defeated Israel Adesanya by unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-46) to win the middleweight championship for the first time. Adesanya had been champion for 155 days, defeating Alex Pereira at UFC 287 back in April of this year. 

After the decision was read, Strickland said he never thought in a million years that he would ever be here. He called Adesanya a “bad mother*****r”, saying that Adesanya beat a majority of his friends. He said the people of Australia motivated him, and their yelling fueled him.

Adesanya has been part of the middleweight title scene dating back to 2019, when he became the undisputed champion. He had held the title up until Pereira defeated him at UFC 281 on November 12 of last year, being knocked out in the fifth round of that fight. The only other loss in Adesanya’s career was a loss to Jan Blachowicz in March of 2021 for the UFC light heavyweight title, preventing him from becoming a double champion.