Jump to
Preview of tonight’s fights
It’s time for another trip down under as UFC 293: Adesanya vs. Strickland is blasting off tonight (September 9th) from the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia. The UFC’s middleweight title will sway in the balance as the champion, Israel Adesanya, defends his belt against the ever-brash Sean Strickland. The undercard is low on relevancy, yet it’s plenty full on Australian action fighters that should keep the crowd throughly entertained. After back-to-back weeks of early fight cards, UFC 293 returns to a normal start time of 6:30.
Just when it looked as though Dricus Du Plessis was next in line for a shot at the 185-pound title, Sean Strickland swooped in to get a crack at gold. Strickland is 2-2 in his last four appearances, with those two victories coming over stiff, yet not top-5 competition. At middleweight, is Sean the most deserving of a title shot? No, but although his strength of schedule might not be there, the prowess of his trash talking is. Strickland pretty much talked his way into this fight, and the pre-fight press conference could make all of it worth it.
For the UFC 293 co-main event tonight, Sydney’s own Tai Tuivasa will attempt to get back into the win column following back-to-back losses, by taking on a rangey striker in Alexander Volkov. Tai is all-action, all the time, so there’s a solid chance that this one doesn’t make it to the scorecards. As for the Russian, Volkov has scored first-round knockouts in his last two appearances. First he dusted Jairzinho Rozenstruik, and then put it on Alexandr Romanov. This is kind of a weird booking, but I’m glad it’s happening.
Start time and date
UFC 293: Adesanya vs. Strickland takes place tonight, on September 9th, at the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia. The main event starts at 10 p.m. ET. The prelims begin at 8 p.m. ET and the early prelims go live at 6:30 p.m. ET.
PPV price and live streams
UFC 293: Adesanya vs. Strickland is available on ESPN+ PPV for $79.99 for current subscribers. New subscribers can pay $124.98 for the UFC 291 pay-per-view and an ESPN+ annual subscription. The event is scheduled to start live at 6:30pm ET, 3:30pm PT, with the early prelims on the ESPN+ streaming platform in the US, as well as Fight Pass. The PPV main card is to kick off at 10:00pm ET, 7:00pm PT. For full streaming details, and compatible devices go here.
Full UFC 293: Adesanya vs. Strickland fight card
Main card
- – Israel Adesanya vs. Sean Strickland: Middleweight Title
- – Tai Tuivasa vs. Alexander Volkov: Heavyweight
- – Manel Kape vs. Felipe dos Santos: Flyweight
- – Justin Tafa vs. Austen Lane: Heavyweight
- – Tyson Pedro vs. Anton Turkalj: Light Heavyweight
Prelims
- – Carlos Ulberg vs. Da Un Jung: Light Heavyweight
- – Jack Jenkins vs. Chepe Mariscal: Featherweight
- – Jamie Mullarkey vs. John Makdessi: Lightweight
- – Nasrat Haqparast vs. Landon Quiñones: Lightweight
Early prelims
- – Blood Diamond vs. Charlie Radtke: Welterweight
- – Shane Young vs. Gabriel Miranda: Featherweight
- – Kevin Jousset vs. Kiefer Crosbie: Welterweight
What comes after UFC 293: Adesanya vs. Strickland?
The next event after UFC 293: Adesanya vs. Strickland is UFC Fight Night: Grasso vs. Shevchenko 2, and this event will happen on September 16th from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Headlining the card will be a strawweight title fight rematch between the champion, Alexa Grasso, and the woman she took the belt from, Valentina Shevchenko. The co-main here is a guaranteed banger when Kevin Holland meets fellow striker, Jack Della Maddalena.