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Israel Adesanya is set for his first title defense of his second reign as middleweight champion. Adesanya will put his belt on the line at UFC 293 in Australia against Sean Strickland, the promotion announced on Tuesday.

Strickland getting the call means the highly-anticipated showdown between Adesanya and rival Dricus Du Plessis will have to wait. Nigerian-born Adesanya and South African Du Plessis have had an increasingly ugly build to a potential fight, including arguments over which man is more of an African.

Du Plessis cemented himself as the No. 1 contender for Adesanya's belt with a second-round TKO win over former champion Robert Whittaker at UFC 290. Adesanya entered the cage after Du Plessis' win leading to a verbal altercation.

However, an apparent injury to Du Plessis will keep him from making the quick turnaround in September.

Strickland has won back-to-back fights after a two-fight losing skid, which included a brutal knockout at the hands of Adesanya rival Alex Pereira. After beating Nassourdine Imavov, Strickland defeated Abus Magomedov in a UFC Fight Night main event on July 1. The fight with Adesanya will be Strickland's first shot at a world title.

Adesanya won the middleweight title with a knockout of Whittaker in October 2019. He made five successful title defenses, losing once in a bid to win the light heavyweight title from then-champion Jan Blachowich during that stretch, before a TKO loss to Alex Pereira at UFC 281 in November 2022.

Adesanya regained the belt this past April by knocking out Pereira in their rematch.