UFC 293 predictions: Who’s picking a Sean Strickland stunner over Israel Adesanya?

The UFC is back in the land “Down Under” this week. Can’t you hear, can’t you hear the thunder? You better run. You better take cover.

UFC 293 takes place Saturday at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPNews and ESPN+.

(Click here to open a PDF of the staff picks grid in a separate window.)

Get pick results from our 11 editors, writers, radio hosts and videographers, as well as additional analysis, below.

Tyson Pedro vs. Anton Turkalj

Records: Pedro (9-4 MMA, 5-4 UFC), Turkalj (8-2 MMA, 0-2 UFC)
Division: Light heavyweight
Betting odds: Pedro (-105), Turkalj (-115)
Junkie pick results: Pedro 10, Turkalj 1

Austen Lane vs. Justin Tafa

Records: Lane (12-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC), Tafa (6-3 MMA, 3-3 UFC)
Division: Heavyweight
Betting odds: Lane (+200), Tafa (-245)
Junkie pick results: Tafa 10, Lane 1

Felipe dos Santos vs. Manel Kape

Records: Dos Santos (7-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC), Kape (18-6 MMA, 3-2 UFC)
Division: Flyweight
Betting odds: Dos Santos (+310), Kape (-395)
Junkie pick results: Kape 9, dos Santos 2

Tai Tuivasa vs. Alexander Volkov

Records: Tuivasa (15-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC), Volkov (36-10 MMA, 10-4 UFC)
Division: Heavyweight
Betting odds: Tuivasa (+185), Volkov (-225)
Junkie pick results: Tuivasa 7, Volkov 4

Israel Adesanya vs. Sean Strickland

Records: Adesanya (24-2 MMA, 13-2 UFC), Strickland (27-5 MMA, 14-5 UFC)
Division: Middleweight
Betting odds: Adesanya (-600), Strickland (+440)
Junkie pick results: Adesanya 11, Strickland 0

Preliminary card picks

Nasrat Haqparast vs. Landon Quinones

Although fights on the prelims don’t count toward the standings in the MMA Junkie staff picks, we still pick each fight. Here are some key results:

The prelims have a pair of unanimous picks from our staff members. Carlos Ulberg (8-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) is an 11-0 pick over Da Woon Jung (15-4-1 MMA, 4-2-1 UFC) in their light heavyweight bout to close the preliminary card. Ulberg is around a 3-1 favorite.

And Nasrat Haqparast (14-5 MMA, 6-4 UFC) is an 11-0 pick over promotional newcomer Landon Quinones (7-1-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC). Haqparast is as much as a 5-1 favorite.

Check out all the picks below.

UFC 293 main card picks

	Adesanya vs. Strickland	Tuivasa vs. Volkov	Dos Santos vs. Kape	Lane vs. Tafa	Pedro vs. Turkalj
MMA Junkie readers’ consensus picks 153-89	Adesanya (76%)	Volkov (51%)	Kape (77%)	Tafa (72%)	Pedro (75%)
Nolan King @mma_kings 154-88	Adesanya	Volkov	Kape	Tafa	Pedro
Simon Samano @SJSamano 153-89	Adesanya	Tuivasa	Kape	Tafa	Pedro
Ken Hathaway @kenshathaway 152-90 2018, 2022 Champion	Adesanya	Tuivasa	Dos Santos	Tafa	Pedro
George Garcia @MMAjunkieGeorge 150-92	Adesanya	Volkov	Kape	Tafa	Pedro
Matt Erickson @MattE 150-92	Adesanya	Volkov	Dos Santos	Tafa	Turkalj
Mike Bohn @MikeBohn 150-92 2014 Champion	Adesanya	Volkov	Kape	Tafa	Pedro
Matthew Wells @MrMWells 145-97	Adesanya	Tuivasa	Kape	Tafa	Pedro
Brian Garcia @thegoze 146-96 2017 Champion	Adesanya	Tuivasa	Kape	Tafa	Pedro
Farah Hannoun @Farah_Hannoun 144-98	Adesanya	Tuivasa	Kape	Tafa	Pedro
Abbey Subhan @kammakaze 143-99	Adesanya	Tuivasa	Kape	Lane	Pedro
Danny Segura @dannyseguratv 135-107	Adesanya	Tuivasa	Kape	Tafa	Pedro

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 293.