UFC 293 LIVE: Pre-lim action is underway ahead of Israel Adesanya’s middleweight title fight against Sean Strickland in Sydney, Australia

As far as UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya is concerned, he is the pound-for-pound No. 1 fighter on the planet – not Jon Jones or Alexander Volkanovski.

Currently ranked as the 5th best fighter on the planet by UFC rankings, Adesanya has proved himself as one of the best strikers to ever fight in the promotion.

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Wow, that was another brilliant fight. Mullarkey takes it by unanimous decision. He was electric in that first round and battled hard throughout the second and third rounds to clinch the victory. Big win for the local lad.

Credit to John Makdessi – he put on a terrific showing in a difficult environment. 29-28.

Jack Jenkins vs Chepe Mariscal is up next…

Former kickboxing world champion John Wayne Parr has had his say ahead of tonight’s main event:

“Izzy’s style is like a ninja, while Strickland is more like the head bouncer at the club. Sure, the bouncer fights the drunks every weekend and is the toughest bloke in the club. But Izzy is a trained assassin where every strike is meant to kill. The expression that there are levels to this sport will be put on display today.”

Controversial MMA star Sean Strickland put the call out for Sydney sparring partners ahead of his middleweight title fight with Israel Adesanya at UFC 293 this weekend – and he’s fully prepared to beat up any novices who want to put their hand up.

Strickland, who’s made it known he enjoys beating people up in the gym, took to social media on Wednesday morning to see if any locals were game.

‘The UFC says I must do some open work outs tonight at 540,’ he wrote on Twitter.

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What a blistering start to the pre-lims that was! It felt pretty even up until the second round, when Haqparast really turned on the heat. Quinones looked a little beleaguered heading into the third round and it really showed as he was absolutely smothered by his counterpart, who was relentless throughout the fight. 30-27.

Jamie Mullarkey vs John Makdessi is up next…

Israel Adesanya hit back at Sean Strickland after his rival mocked him for wearing nail polish – vowing to ‘knock him out with painted nails’.

Strickland has been firing shots at Adesanya in the build up to their championship bout at UFC 293 in Sydney on September 10.

Speaking ahead of the fight, the American said Adesanya represents a guy who ‘f***ing paints his nails’.

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Here’s the full fight card for your viewing pleasure. We’ve already had the early pre-lims – where Radtke, Miranda and Jousset picked up victories.

Up first will on the pre-lims is the lightweight bout between Haqparast vs Quinones.

Welcome to Mail Sport’s live blog for tonight’s UFC 293 event in Sydney, Australia. Israel Adesanya and Sean Strickland will go head-to-head in a bout for the middleweight title but, before that, there’s plenty of action to sink your teeth into.

The main event will get going somewhere between 5-6am, so strap in for a long one folks!