UFC Vegas 47: UFC Apex, Las Vegas:
For five-rounds Sean Strickland did somethings really well. His takedown defense was on point, stuffing eight attempts from Jack Hermansson. “Tarzan” had his left jab working solidly as well. He paced himself almost to the point of being too measured. At least until the last few seconds of the fight. He was also vulnerable to calf kicks. So while Strickland enters the conversation of title talk, he’s still shy of being worthy of “being next”.
And he himself post-fight talked about it.
“I’m sorry guys, I was being a p**nsy. I should have stayed in the pocket and thrown. Maybe I let the pressure get to me. I was fighting like a b**ch. I think I just let the win bonus get the better of me, I should have stayed in the pocket and thrown more”.
Strickland Enters The Conversation, But What’s Next
Strickland has something good going for him. He has the charisma that relishes the role of the villain. And next week at UFC 271, the order of challengers for the UFC middleweight division should begin to clear itself up. Of course that’s providing that Israel Adesanya retains against Robert Whittaker.
Also on that card is Derek Brunson versus Jared Cannonier. And in that should be who’s up next for the champion. But it also should set up Strickland’s next fight. The only top gun without a dance partner is Marvin Vettori.
With Strickland maintaining his best strike defense in division history, and stuffing every takedown, it’ll be interesting to see if he can keep that up with Vettori. “The Italian Dream” is underrated on the ground, but doesn’t have the power in his hands he thinks he does. However; with the way both talk, calling the build up fun, is an understatement.
