UFC 293 is in the books and we're now officially in a crazy timeline where Sean Strickland is the new middleweight champion following his unanimous decision win over Israel Adesanya last night in Sydney, Australia. In the co-main event, Alexander Volkov continued his winning streak with a submission victory over Tai Tuivasa. Exciting flyweight Manel Kape, meanwhile, made it three wins in a row following a unanimous decision verdict over the debuting Felipe dos Santos.

So with all that said, here are five things we learned from the events of UFC 293.

1. Sean Strickland was underestimated by Israel Adesanya at UFC 293

Strickland was a massive underdog going into his fight with Adesanya. With his odds of +500 and in some cases +600, it wasn't the biggest UFC title upset ever — that still goes to Holly Holm for her win over Ronda Rousey which was coincidentally in Australia at UFC 193 — but it was the biggest in a middleweight title fight. And yet, it wasn't by a lucky punch or anything — he walked down Israel Adesanya and dominated him with next to no trouble over five rounds with all three judges scoring the contest 49-46. That said, he did drop Adesanya towards the end of the first round for good measure.

Going into the fight, Adesanya revealed he wouldn't be underestimating Strickland but at the same time, would make things look easy. All that said, it was probably extremely hard for Adesanya not to underestimate Strickland as just about everyone had him winning. In the MMA world, only Strickland's teammates were picking him to win. His performance certainly seemed to indicate that he was taking Strickland lightly. While he got dropped in the first round, he recovered to win the second.

However, once Strickland took initiative once again in the third round, Adesanya didn't change things up and by the end, he knew he had lost as he could only smile as Strickland trash talked him in the closing seconds. Strickland was even surprised, stating post-fight that he felt he was fighting an amateur fighter. But in fairness to Adesanya, it seemed like everyone underestimated the American.

2. Israel Adesanya needs a break

Love him or hate him, Adesanya deserves credit for being one of the most active fighters, let alone champions. As pointed out by former two-weight champion Daniel Cormier, Adesanya has been extremely active since making his UFC debut in 2018. He has fought five times since the start of 2022 and competed at least a minimum of twice a year since 2018.

UFC president Dana White was quick to announce that a rematch would likely be next. However, for once, Adesanya does not deserve an immediate rematch. Instead, it's probably better for him if he takes some time away from the sport, get some rest and have more “me-time” while the division plays itself out. It's something Adesanya eluded to himself as he only gave a brief statement during the post-fight press conference. If anyone deserves a break, it's him.

3. Alexander Volkov is a dark horse at heavyweight

Alexander Volkov was always somewhat of a dark horse in the heavyweight division given his physical advantages and smart kickboxing game, but it's even more so the case after last night. The Russian made it three wins in a row with three finishes following a second-round submission victory over Tai Tuivasa. Overall, he's now won six of his last eight fights.

Likely to move up to No. 6 in the rankings, Volkov would still likely need one or two more wins at the very least to even think about a title shot. But depending on what Jon Jones does after UFC 295, he could find himself edging closer to a first-ever title shot given his current run. Speaking of Jones, a matchup with him would be particularly be an intriguing one given Volkov's height and size advantage.

4. Tai Tuivasa needs a step down in competition

Unfortunately, Tai Tuivasa was finished once again and is now on a three-fight losing streak. With the likes of Sergey Spivak and Jailton Almeida below him in the rankings, things won't get any easier for the Aussie. Instead, it's probably best for “Bam Bam” to fight even lower in the rankings to get some confidence back. Perhaps, even an unranked opponent would do at this stage.

5. Kai Kara-France vs. Manel Kape will be even bigger now

Manel Kape made headlines going into UFC 293 for his confrontation with Adesanya during the pre-fight press conference. It all stemmed from Kape calling his original opponent and Adesanya's teammate Kai Kara-France a number of expletives for pulling out of their fight due to injury.

With Kape making it three wins in a row against Kara-France's short-notice replacement in Felipe dos Santos, he wasted no time in calling out the New Zealander once again in his post-fight interview. Interest in the fight has increased tenfold and while Kape stated he prefers to remain on pay-per-view, such a fight deserves all the attention as well as five rounds as a potential Fight Night main event.