UFC 293 didn’t go as planned for Israel Adesanya, as he lost his middleweight title to Sean Strickland in a unanimous decision. The fight was a tough test for Adesanya, who struggled to find his rhythm and was unable to land significant shots on Strickland.
Former UFC champion Michael Bisping weighed in on the fight and the potential next steps for both fighters. He noted that Jared Cannonier was originally the backup fighter for the event and has a win over Strickland. However, Bisping believes the true No. 1 contender is Dricus Du Plessis, who secured his status with a round two TKO stoppage of Robert Whittaker at UFC 290.
Bisping acknowledged that Strickland has been very active, fighting five times since July 2022, and he expects Strickland to continue taking on all challengers. He also didn’t want to take away from Strickland’s victory but noted that Adesanya didn’t have a good showing that night.
Bisping suggested that Adesanya may have been too confident in his ability to counterstrike and didn’t have a backup plan when that strategy wasn’t working. He emphasized that Strickland walked him down and was the better fighter throughout the bout.
While Bisping didn’t speculate on what’s next for Adesanya, it’s clear that Strickland is now the middleweight champion and will likely face strong competition in his title reign.