Sean Strickland defeated Isreal Adeanya to win the new UFC middleweight champion of the world at the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia, with all judges scoring the fight in his favor.
The American’s first-round knockdown was the highlight of the battle, which lasted five rounds.
All three judges scored the fight 49-46 in favor of Strickland, the American and new middleweight world champion. He did it with relentless pressure and firm, upright boxing, never trying a grapple.
Adesanya, a Nigerian-born fighter, must start over after being on the back foot throughout the bout at UFC 293.
This is his third loss of the season, dropping his record to 24-3, while Strickland improves to 28-5.
