Dana White officially announced who will be fighting in the main event and co-main event of UFC 293.
On September 9, the UFC returns to Sydney, Australia, for a pay-per-view event inside the Qudos Bank Arena. As of Monday night, UFC 293 didn’t have a confirmed main event due to Dricus Du Plessis not willing to make a two-month turnaround to fight Israel Adesanya for the middleweight title.
Luckily, the UFC found a replacement to ensure Adesanya could defend his throne in Australia. On Tuesday, August 8, Dana White confirmed number five-ranked Sean Strickland will be fighting ‘The Last Stylebender’ at UFC 293. The UFC president had this to say about the matchup:
“What I love about Israel, he’s always ready to take on the best in the world, anyone, anytime. Strickland is an absolute maniac who doesn’t back down from anyone. This will be a great fight.”
Strickland has stepped up to accept a similar situation that Du Plessis denied. The 32-year-old middleweight title contender last fought on July 1, defeating Abus Magomedov a week before ‘Stillknocks’ took out Robert Whittaker.
Meanwhile, Adesanya is coming off a second-round knockout win against Alex Pereira in August to regain the UFC middleweight title.
BREAKING: Sydney, your #UFC293 main event is official!! 🚨🇦🇺 pic.twitter.com/D2t7xTy8Ns
— UFC (@ufc) August 8, 2023
Dana White announced UFC 293 co-main event is Tai Tuivasa vs. Alexander Volkov
Dana White’s announcement on Tuesday also revealed who would be fighting in the UFC 293 co-main event. The second to last bout on September 9 will be a heavyweight matchup between Tai Tuivasa and Alexander Volkov. White had this to say about the fight between the hard-hitting contenders:
“The co-main event is Tai Tuivasa vs. Alexander Volkov. Top-ten heavyweights, both of these guys have insane power. There will be no judges needed for this fight.”
Tuivasa must turn things around at UFC 293 after losing back-to-back fights against Ciryl Gane and Sergei Pavlovich by KO/TKO. On the contrary, Volkov hopes to continue building momentum after securing consecutive first-round KO/TKO wins against Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Alexandr Romanov.
Other fights confirmed for UFC 293 include Kai Kara-France vs. Manel Kape, Carlos Ulberg vs. Da Woon Jung, Jamie Mullarkey vs. John Makdessi, and more.
***Updated Schedule UFC Fights 8/9/23***#UFCVegas78 #UFCVegas79 #UFCVegas80 #UFC292 #UFC293 #UFC294 #UFC295 #NocheUFC #UFCBoston #UFCSydney #UFCSingapore #UFCParis #UFCSaoPaulo #UFC2023 pic.twitter.com/RBa9iB32mj
— Marcel Dorff 🇳🇱🇮🇩 (@BigMarcel24) August 9, 2023
