Mixing up his recent wardrobe inside the Octagon, undisputed middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya is set to don a pair of red shorts inside the cage for the first time this weekend at UFC 293 – ahead of his title fight with challenger, Sean Strickland.
Adesanya, the incumbent and two-time undisputed middleweight champion under the Dana White-led banner, headlines the promotion’s return to Sydney, Australia – taking on Strickland over the course of five rounds at the Qudos Bank Arena.
Sidelined since he headlined UFC 287 back in April, Adesanya managed to scoop the middleweight title for the second time in his promotional tenure on that occasion, recording a stunning second round KO win over common-foe, Alex Pereira in the pair’s fifth outing in combat sports.
Israel Adesanya is set to debut red shorts inside the Octagon at UFC 293
On that occasion, Adesanya wore a pair of blue compression shorts for his championship challenge – due to the fact he would be competing in the blue corner as a challenger. And ahead of this weekend’s walk, which Adesanya will make secondly, and to the red corner, the City Kickboxing staple is set to wear red shorts for the first time inside the Octagon.
“Stylebender’s (Israel Adesanya) rocking red in the Octagon for the first time Saturday #UFC293,” UFC posted on their official X account.
O dia foi agitado para os lutadores em Sydney!
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Falta pouco para o #UFC293!
[ Sábado (9) | 19h30 |
— UFC Brasil (@UFCBrasil) September 6, 2023
Falta pouco para o 
Ao vivo no
Managing to strike gold whilst sporting blue shorts against Pereira, Adesanya would wear a pair of green, champion-themed compression shorts for his UFC 281 title defense against the Brazilian in November of last year at Madison Square Garden, suffering a fifth round TKO loss to the Sao Paulo knockout ace.
And whilst superstitions have been touted at play for UFC 293 – as well as Adesanya’s apparent play-up to recent pokes from Sean Strickland regarding his time competing in China during his kickboxing career, Adesanya has hinted at a potential submission-seeking approach to this weekend’s championship clash with the surging contender ‘Down Under’.