Israel Adesanya vs Sean Strickland is the headline boutl at UFC 293 which takes place at the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney Australia this weekend and we take a look at the main bout as well as a couple of the supporting fights.
ISRAEL ADESANYA VS. SEAN STRICKLAND
Middleweight Title Fight
Adesanya known as “The Last Stylebender” has a record of 24-2-0 with 16 of the 24 wins by knockout and 6 first round finishes. His last fight was against Alex Pereira back in April back in 2023 and he won in the second round. South African fans will remember him for coming into the ring and trash talking Drikus du Plessis after his big victory a couple of months ago.
Adesanya is tall and quick and likes to stay on his feet, but he can handle himself on the ground if necessary.
Strickland has a 27-5-0 record with 11 wins by knockout or by submission and 9 first round finishes. His last fight was against Abus Magomedov and he won in the second round. He also prefers to stay on his feet but can win on the ground. He goes into this fight as a huge underdog.
BETTING – Click here to bet
Adesanya 2/13
Strickland 9/2
Prediction:
Strickland is a solid fighter and capable of causing an upset, but Adesanya is pure class in the octagon and after some early stalking of each other I can see Adesanya winning this by KO in the second round.
TAI TUIVASA VS. ALEXANDER VOLKOV
Heavyweight Division
Tuivasa is trying to get his UFC career back on track after back-to-back defeats and he runs into Volkov who is building some momentum having won 2 fights in a row.
The beauty about the Heavyweight Division is that things could change with one punch and we should be in for a good battle here.
BETTING – Click here to bet
Tuivasa 39/20
Volkov 4/9
Prediction:
Volkov is favourite for this fight and he has momentum going into it, but I think he is going to find the southpaw Tuivasa a tricky opponent both men prefer striking to wrestling. Volkov is a fairly sluggish fighter and I think that Tuivasa is in with a shout of causing an upset here.
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Justin Tafa vs. Austen Lane
Heavyweight Bout
The last time this pair met the fight was halted in under 30 seconds after Tafa got an accidental finger in the eye. Tafa has a 6-3 record v Lane’s 12-3. Both of these two prefer to stay on their feet and underdog Lane holds quite a significant reach and height advantage.
BETTING – Click here to bet
Tafa 9/20
Lane 18/10
Prediction:
There should be quite a bit of needle in this one as Tafa felt a bit hard done by the eye poke and felt that Lane should have been disqualified. This should be a quality heavyweight battle with both fighters standing and going toe-to-toe. I expect Tafa to make the early running, but Lane the underdog can wear him down and grab the win.
SUGGESTED BETS:
Israel Adesanya vs. Sean Strickland
Betting options for me include Adesanya by KO at 17/20. For a bigger price player Adesanya to win in the second round at 6/1 and that is where I am going with this one.
Suggested Bet: Adesanya winner in the second round at 6/1
Tai Tuivasa vs. Alexander Volkov
Suggested Bet: Tuivasa win at 39/20
Justin Tafa vs. Austen Lane
Austen Lane win at 18/10
All prices subject to change.
