American fighter Sean Strickland has defeated Nigeria-born UFC fighter Isreal Adesanya to claim the middleweight belt.
The 5th ranked fighter dropped and nearly finished Israel Adesanya late in the first round of their middleweight title fight Sunday in Sydney, Australia, in the main event of UFC 293.
Strickland then went on to score one of the biggest upsets in UFC history by winning a unanimous decision over Adesanya largely by defusing Adesanya’s offense.
It was a jab and a right hand and a great defense that led Strickland to the win.
Judges scored it 49-46 on all cards for Strickland.
A blistering straight right hand dropped Adesanya hard late in the first round. Strickland was on top of him immediately and firing away, but referee Marc Goddard gave Adesanya a lot of leeway and he survived the round.
But Strickland continually marched forward, kept his guard up and never allowed Adesanya to get untracked.
When the bout ended, Strickland shouted at Adesanya and then raised his arms and sprinted around the cage in celebration.
