The UFC 293 headliner between Israel Adesanya and Sean Strickland has a backup fighter.

Adesanya defends his middleweight title against Strickland in the main event of the pay-per-view event taking place Saturday night in Sydney, Australia,

In the event that either fighter is unable to make it, however, the UFC has a contingency plan in place in the form of former title challenger Jared Cannonier, who will serve as the backup fighter according to multiple reports.

Although it's not officially announced, Cannonier will be in Sydney where he will weigh in at 185 pounds and step in should either fighter be unable to make it.

“It’s pretty much been more of a diet camp than a fight camp,” Cannonier told MMA Junkie. “I’ve fought both competitors before, so I’m not really concerning myself with – I don’t want to say I’m not concerning myself with what I’m going to do in there.

“I’m not necessarily game-planning for one or the other. I’m ready to go in there and fight both of them. I’m ready to go in there and fight both of them and win.”

If it's Strickland, Cannonier will fight Adesanya for the middleweight title in what would be a rematch of their title fight from UFC 276 back in July last year where the champion defended his crown with a unanimous decision victory.

However, if it's Adesanya who has to withdraw, Cannonier will fight Strickland in what will more than likely become an interim middleweight title fight. It will also notably be a rematch as the pair fought in a close and competitive middleweight headliner in December which Cannonier just about edged.

But if his services are not needed, Cannonier is fine with that as he'll still get paid. He also offered a prediction.

“I would say Sean has a tall mountain to climb,” Cannonier added. “Israel is 6-foot-4, pun intended. But I never count anyone out in this sport. He definitely has the skills to make something happen in there. But Izzy has the skills to make it not happen. It’d be hard to bet against Izzy.”

Cannonier's most recent outing was a dominant unanimous decision win over another former title challenger in Marvin Vettori. Overall, the 39-year-old is 7-2 at middleweight with his only losses coming to Adesanya and Robert Whittaker.

Strickland, meanwhile, bounced back from his defeat to Cannonier with two straight wins over Nassourdine Imavov and Abus Magomedov.

With Dricus du Plessis unable to make it to UFC 293 and Strickland being the highest-ranked fighter not to have faced Adesanya yet, he was given the title shot as a result.