Israel Adesanya And the Real Winners and Losers from UFC 293 | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors

It's one of the best things about MMA.

The greatest fighters, much more often than in boxing, lose.

Conor McGregor lost. Amanda Nunes lost. Kamaru Usman lost. Valentina Shevchenko lost.

And exactly 100 pay-per-view shows ago, about 450 miles away, Ronda Rousey lost.

So it shouldn't be such an enormous surprise that in Saturday night's main event, Israel Adesanya lost his middleweight title to Sean Strickland, who went off as nearly a 7-to-1 underdog.

But it was.

"I love to talk," Daniel Cormier said. "And I have no words."

It wasn't a bloodbath. It wasn't a war. In fact, it might seem so surprising because of how easy Strickland, who took the fight as the No. 5 contender when No. 1 Dricus Du Plessis deferred, made it look.

He stalked Adesanya for every moment of a 25-minute fight. He consistently landed the most powerful punches, including a right hand that dropped Adesanya and nearly stopped him in the first round. And he won four of five rounds on each of the three official scorecards, in Adesanya's home region.

Still, shocking doesn't quite do it justice.

"Am I f--king dreaming? Am I gonna wake up? Somebody hit me," Strickland said. "I don't f--king cry much but I'm trying to keep my sh-t together. Izzy's a bad mother f--ker, man. The majority of my friends, he's beaten pretty easily. And there were times I was doubting myself. But I want to thank you guys for this win because you f--king motivated me. Thank you, Australia."

It was Adesanya's third loss in 16 UFC fights and second in his last three championship appearances. Meanwhile, for Strickland, it was his 15th victory in 20 UFC fights and his third win in a row since a two-fight losing streak.

"It's crazy man," Cormier said. "That's why this sport is unlike any other."