By Sedara Philip
Israel Adesanya has lost his UFC middleweight championship for a second time, dropping a lopsided unanimous decision to Sean Strickland at UFC 293.
Strickland dropped Adesanya late in the first round with a straight right hand, setting to tone for the rest of the bout.
Not one known for his outright power, but his willingness to continually march forward and pressure opponents, Strickland did exactly that against Adesanya, while he landed the more meaningful shots to win 49-46 on the scorecards; Adesanya winning just one round.
It’s the second time in the last year that Adesanya has seen his middleweight title taken from him after losing it to Alex Pereira in November of 2022 – a loss he avenged earlier this year.
It was a performance that lacked urgency from Adesanya, particularly in the later rounds as Strickland’s approach of walking forward despite anything Adesanya threw looked to have the Kiwi out of sorts.
It was a fight few – if any – thought Strickland would win, however the American stuck to what got him to the dance and walked away with the prize.
