The UFC makes its return to Australia with the UFC 293 pay-per-view event taking place at the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney. The card is headlined by a middleweight title fight between current champion Israel Adesanya and divisional veteran Sean Strickland. The co-main event, features a ranked heavyweight battle between home-town favorite Tai Tuivasa and Alexander Volkov.
With plenty of other great fights on the card, let’s take a look at all of the action taking place down under.
UFC 293 Prelim Card
Welterweights kick off the card as Kevin Jousset battles Kiefer Crosbie. Expect a win for the Frenchman Jousset in this matchup.
Shane Young takes on Gabriel Miranda in featherweight action and should improve to 13-8 with a victory in front of his home country fans.
Mike Mathetha collides with Charles Radtke in a welterweight tilt. American Radtke is a heavy favorite and is likely to emerge the victor over Blood Diamond.
Nasrat Haqparast returns to action to take on Landon Quinones in a lightweight bout. Prospect Haqparast is should make it two wins in a row as he is heavily favored.
Jamie Mullarkey faces lightweight veteran John Makdessi, who last lost to the Haqparast in his last outing. This one will likely last the distance, but with Mullarkey getting the win.
Jack Jenkins takes on Chepe Mariscal in a featherweight battle. Expect Jenkins to win and improve to 13-2 as a result.
The featured prelim sees Carlos Ulberg take on Jung Da Un in a light heavyweight fight. The “Black Jag” Ulberg is on a four-fight winning streak and should make it five as he continues to climb the ranks.
UFC 293 Main Card
Pedro (9-4) vs Turkalj (8-2)
The main card kicks off with light heavyweights as Australia’s Tyson Pedro takes on Sweden’s Anton Turkalj. Pedro is coming off a unanimous decision defeat to Modestas Bukauskas in February earlier this year. Prior to that, the Aussie was on a two-fight winning streak with knockout finishes over Ike Villanueva and Harry Hunsucker.
Turkalj, meanwhile, was undefeated coming off a win in Dana White's Contender Series but has since lost his first two UFC fights with a submission defeat against Jailton Almeida fighting at heavyweight before getting outpointed by Vitor Petrino earlier this year. All that said, it should still be a close and competitive contest as oddsmakers have the fight as a pick ‘em. I like “The Pleasure Man” to outlast Pedro and get the decision victory.
Tafa (6-3, 1NC) vs Lane (12-3, 1NC)
Justin Tafa battles Austen Lane in a heavyweight encounter. Tafa last competed against Lane earlier this year in June. However, it ended up being a no contest after an accidental eye poke rendered Tafa unable to compete. Prior to that, the New Zealander was on a two-fight winning streak following emphatic knockout victories over Harry Hunsucker and Parker Porter.
For the American Lane, it was his UFC debut on the other side of the world and not an ideal one. However, the former NFL player was on a six-fight winning streak leading up to the fight and will be looking to get his first win under the promotion on Saturday. It should be a good entertaining brawl, with Tafa finding a way to land a fight-ending strike.
Kape (18-6) vs dos Santos (7-0, 1NC)
Manel Kape will compete for the first time in 2023 when he faces UFC newcomer Felipe dos Santos in a flyweight encounter. Kape was originally set to fight former title challenger Kai Kara-France before the latter had to withdraw due to injury. It is remarkably the fifth time a fight has been called off in Kape’s last six scheduled fights as he has only competed once since December 2021. However, “Starboy” is on a three-fight winning streak following victories against Ode' Osbourne, Zhalgas Zhumagulov and David Dvorak.
Dos Santos, meanwhile, is making his UFC debut on short notice. While he is undefeated and a member of the Chute Boxe Academy that notably features former lightweight champion Charles Oliveira, it’s still a tall order for the Brazilian. Expect Kape –a massive favorite-- to make it four wins in a row and potentially get a top contender in his next fight.
Tuivasa (15-5) vs Volkov (36-10)
In the co-main event, Tai Tuivasa takes on Russia’s Alexander Volkov in a heavyweight collision. Tuivasa is currently on a two-fight losing streak following knockout defeats to Ciryl Gane and Sergei Pavlovich. Prior to that, however, the always entertaining Aussie was on a five-fight winning streak including a big knockout win over Derrick Lewis.
Volkov, on the other hand, is on a two-fight winning streak. The Russian TKO'd Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Alexander Romanov in the first round and has won four of his last six fights overall. He lacks the pure knockout power of Tuivasa, but the lanky striker can certainly finish fights and get knockouts through his volume punching.
On paper this should be a win for the big favorite Volkov, but I like a play here on Tuivasa to shock the MMA world with a KO. Expect a celebration shoey in front of a frenzy arena if Tai can land a few big shots to end it.
Adesanya (24-2) vs Strickland (27-5)
Israel Adesanya looks for his first title defense of his second reign as middleweight champion against fast-talking Sean Strickland. Adesanya lost the belt after suffering a knockout defeat to Alex Pereira last year. It was his first defeat at 185 pounds. However, he revenged the loss in spectacular fashion with a second-round knockout win over Pereira back in April. Pereira aside, Adesanya has looked unstoppable at 185. He was notably on a three-fight winning streak prior to the Pereira defeat with wins over Marvin Vettori, Robert Whittaker and Jared Cannonier.
Strickland, meanwhile, is on a two-fight winning streak. After suffering back-to-back defeats to Pereira and Cannonier in 2022, the American returned to winning ways with a decision win over Nassourdine Imavov which was followed with a second-round TKO win over Abus Magomedov. While Strickland likely needed to do more to earn a title shot, he benefited from top contender Dricus du Plessis being unable to fight at UFC 293 and his previous press conference smack-talk with the champ.
As far as the matchup goes, Adesanya is a big favorite, as he should be. While Strickland has an unusual upright stance and likes to jab and pressure his opponents, that likely won’t work against a high-level counter-striker like Adesanya. Strickland is slower and not as elusive, which should make easy work for the Style Bender.
Tarzon’s only hope is to wrestle and grapple with Adesanya, but even that can only delay the inevitable. The safe play is a win by Adesanya, and I would lean toward a finish in the second or third round.
