Sean Strickland drops, decisions Adesanya to claim UFC middleweight title

Sean Strickland pulled off a major upset following a dominant unanimous decision nod over Israel Adesanya to claim the UFC middleweight world title in the main event of UFC 293 earlier today at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia.

Strickland, a major underdog heading into the fight, came out swinging in the opening stanza and dropped Adesanya with a clean right hand before the end of the round. Adesanya recovered in round two, but Strickland proved better in rounds three to five.

All three judges saw the fight for Strickland after five five-minute rounds, improving his professional mixed martial arts record to 28-5 while Adesanya fell to 24-3. The scorecards were 49-46 thrice.

"Am I dreaming? Am I going to wake up? Somebody hit me! Never in a million years had I thought I’d be here. Izzy is a bad motherf—," Strickland said after the fight.

"He’s got how many knockouts? He’s beat the majority of my friends pretty easily. I was doubting myself at times, but the fans in Australia motivated me. In that fourth round, when I heard you guys yelling, it fueled me."

Adesanya, regarded as one of the best pound-for-pound mixed martial artists, humbly accepted defeat and offered no excuses.

"I lost to the better man," the ex-champion quipped.