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UFC — 9/6/23

UFC 293: Adesanya vs Strickland - Quick Preview & Early Line Movement

By 
@OddsSmokerSteve
WagerWire Contributor

The UFC heads Down Under this weekend when they return to Sydney, Australia for UFC 293. The card will be headlined by Israel Adesanya and Sean Strickland facing off for the UFC Middleweight title and also features a heavy dose of local talent, with nine fighters on the lineup who will be representing Australia or New Zealand inside the octagon. The lineup currently has twelve fights scheduled to take place.

Adesanya will begin his second reign as UFC Middleweight champion by headlining his 11th UFC PPV event, which puts him  at #7 on the list of all-time PPV main events in the promotion’s history. “The Last Stylebender” is one of the most popular fighters on the roster and he’ll have his hands full with Strickland, who received a well-deserved shot at the champion when Dricus Du Plessis announced he would not be able to fight at the event. The promotion had originally planned for the Adesanya vs Du Plessis matchup after the latter picked up a win over Robert Whittaker at UFC 290 earlier this summer.

Beyond the main event, there are a handful of other exciting matchups on the lineup as well, including Tai Tuivasa and Alexander Volkov facing off in a battle of ranked heavyweight behemoths in the co-main event. Manel Kape, a highly-entertaining ranked flyweight contender, has struggled to find an opponent recently with multiple cancellations, but he has one this weekend in newcomer Felipe dos Santos, who will debut in the UFC out of the highly-respected Chute Box Diego Lima camp. Another fighter to keep an eye on during this event is Carlos Ulberg, who will face off against Da Un Jung in the featured prelim.

As you might expect, the heaviest early betting line movement for this event has occurred near the top of the lineup. Adesanya opened as a -455 favorite to retain his title over Strickland and his money line has now surged all the way up to -650. The co-main event has seen a similar, although smaller, steady movement in the betting line since opening, with Alexander Volkov moving from a -180 favorite on the money line to -250 currently. Only one fights’ money line on the card has flipped from its opening point, with Anton Turkalj moving from a +114 underdog to a -115 favorite in his matchup against Tyson Pedro to open the main card.

(Betting lines listed are current via DraftKings Sportsbook)