And The Winner Is...

As with the vast majority of life, these giveaways can only have one winner. And this time around, it happens to be: FRASER H.

But if that isn’t you… not to worry.

Keep in mind that this is just the second week of Chin Tucker’s brief existence — and I plan on rewarding your loyalty with bigger + better prizes as time goes on.

In other words, if tickets to this weekend’s UFC 293 represent the ground floor, imagine what’ll be up for grabs by Week 100.

Anyway, here’s what you need to know from the world of mixed martial arts heading into this momentous weekend for Aussie fight fans.

— GL

After Six Years Away From Our City, We Honestly Expected A Little More

We’re all thinking it. But I’ll go ahead and cop the heat for saying it aloud.

The last time the UFC hit Sydney was back in late 2017 for Fight Night 121: Fabricio Werdum vs Marcin Tybura.

UFC 293’s co-main headliner Tai Tuivasa threw hands with Rashad Coulter in the prelims while Australia’s featherweight king Alexander Volkanovski faced Shane Young (who is also entering the Octagon this weekend) to open the main card as its lowest-billed bout.

So how did the world’s leading mixed martial arts promotion choose to kick off its $16 million partnership with NSW, which guarantees three pay-per-view events across the next four years starting with UFC 293?

Did they:

a) Choose to honour their first contractual obligation in the best possible manner?, or

b) Expedite the damn thing at the sacrifice of main card quality, fan experience, and the middleweight division’s already-established queue for a shot at the belt?

Now I fully understand the decision to prioritise International Fight Week (UFC 290); the all-important card that effectively precluded the country’s two greatest fighters, the aforementioned Volkanovski and Robert Whittaker, from competing on home soil come September 10.

I also understand that we only just received an absolute cracker of a pay-per-view event at the top of the year with Perth’s UFC 284, which will — in all likelihood — be immortalised in the pantheon of elite title bouts.

But why not choose to simply wait it out until the complete roster of the ANZ’s finest are available?

Why not take a step back and consider the fact that a lot of people are paying an outrageous amount of money to see a lot of unranked athletes on the main card (as much as we love Tyson Pedo and Justin Tafa)?

Perhaps most crucially: why was reigning middleweight champion Israel Adesanya’s opponent locked in at such a concerningly late stage?

As some of you may recall, the initial title challenger was Adesanya’s “African brother” Dricus du Plessis, who earned the right after an upset victory against our very own Robert Whittaker at UFC 290.

The only problem was that President Dana White, Adesanya himself, as well as the organisation as a whole seemed doggedly intent on him fulfilling the title shot way too soon post-International Fight Week, i.e. the very reason why the likes of Whittaker aren’t gloving up for UFC 293 despite the home crowd.

That’s when #5 division contender Sean Strickland was tapped, and prior to the negotiations being finalised, both he and his camp even remarked at how strange it was that the headline bout hadn’t been confirmed roughly two months out.

In fact, tickets had begun to sell before the UFC formally announced Adesanya vs Strickland.

Maybe I’m reading too deeply between the lines; maybe I’m unfairly comparing what is objectively a solid card to the epic lineups we’ve been gifted on a silver platter recently.

But if you ask me, the haphazard nature of UFC 293’s entire “journey,” as it were, is a majorly disappointing indication that the Australian market has once again been treated as something of an afterthought when it suits the company.

To add insult to injury, the NSW government is footing the vast majority of this bill (as well as the next two).

Do better, Uncle Dana.

“I’m Not Gonna Bet On Sean Strickland Haha… Unless?”

Alright, look.

As reflected by the current betting odds, the overwhelming consensus is that defending two-time middleweight champion and future UFC Hall of Famer, Israel Adesanaya ($1.15), is levels above challenger Sean Strickland ($5.50). And we’re not here to dispute that.

But — and there is a “but” here — lest we forget that nothing is ever guaranteed in the sport of MMA (hence why we f***ing love it).

Yes, Adesanya is a remarkably dominant titleholder who’s lapped just about every 185-pounder currently worth a damn (with the obvious exception of Strickland). As was Kamaru Usman prior to UFC 278, Amanda Nunes until UFC 269, Luke Rockhold pre-UFC 199, and of course, Ronda Rousey in the lead-up to UFC 193.

On the subject of the middleweight division alone, just months ago at International Fight Week, the initial title challenger in Dricus du Plessis had been completely written off by the masses and pundits alike… right before he TKO’d Australia’s own Robert Whittaker in the second round.

A little further back, Adesanya himself — an undeniably savvy striker — had pretty much assured a decision victory against career nemesis Alex Pereira at UFC 281 before he was also TKO’d in the final round; something he’d later avenge at UFC 287 with a stone-cold KO for the ages.

By no means would I ever encourage you punt-happy degenerates out there to YOLO your rent/kid’s trust fund/life savings on the indelicate Mr Strickland (👀). Especially not in this economy. In all likelihood, this will be another lock for The Last Stylebender, who’s arguably at his most dangerous against those who swarm with their hands down. Like Strickland.

All I’m doing is simply remarking on the fact that quintupling/sextupling your money on Sean Strickland is… compelling. And to remind you that Tarzan can definitely wrestle (a well-documented vulnerability of Adesanya’s game). So do with that information what you will.

I’m washing my hands of this (👀x2).

Upcoming Events

• September 10th [10 AM AEST]
  UFC 293: Israel Adesanya vs Sean Strickland
  Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney | Australia

• September 17th [9 AM AEST]
  UFC Fight Night: Alexa Grasso vs Valentina Shevchenko II
  T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas | US

• September 24th [1 AM AEST]
  Bellator 299: Johnny Eblen vs Fabian Edwards
  3Arena, Dublin | Ireland

• September 24th [6 AM AEST]
  UFC Fight Night: Rafael Fiziev vs Matteusz Gamrot
  UFC APEX, Las Vegas | US

• September 30th [10 AM AEST]
  ONE Fight Night: Stamp Fairtex vs Ham Seo Hee
  Singapore Indoor Stadium, Kallang | Singapore

• October 8th [7 AM AEST]
  UFC Fight Night 229
  UFC APEX, Las Vegas | US

• October 8th [10 AM AEST]
  Bellator 300: Ryan Bader vs Linton Vassell II
  Pechanga Arena, San Diego | US