I Give Strickland Too Much S#!T

[Dimbis]

I was always annoyed that Strickland talks a big game about being violent and putting it all on the line, just for him to go out and put on some slower paced fights.

BUT he’s out there in everyone’s face when he fights. Always on the front foot, and pushing people back. He’s there to fight but neutralizes everyone’s offense. Granted, his teep body kicks don’t necessarily say “I’m here to fight you, come to me” but he’s still in their faces for a fight most of the time.

 

[USA!USA!]

he is definitely there to fight.. and by fight he means jab

 

[biscuitsbrah]

He’s willing to pressure and walk people down but he won’t commit to strikes or open up unless he sees guaranteed openings. He always fires back after his opponent punches and kicks though

 

[Substance Abuse]

Strickland's style may not yield a finish but he's beaten the shit out of Adesanya and Costa while losing a close fight with DDP. He deserves his props. His offense and defense was on point tonight, especially those teeps to dictate distance and leg kick checks on defense.

 

[Dimbis]

he is definitely there to fight.. and by fight he means jab

He’s willing to pressure and walk people down but he won’t commit to strikes or open up unless he sees guaranteed openings. He always fires back after his opponent punches and kicks though

It’s a nasty jab that he’s got. He lands it well.

I get that he doesn’t fire off power shots and picks his slowly, but he’s in front of his opponents. They can’t fully fire back on him.

 

[USA!USA!]

It’s a nasty jab that he’s got. He lands it well.

I get that he doesn’t fire off power shots and picks his slowly, but he’s in front of his opponents. They can’t fully fire back on him.

It is definitely effective. Not taking shots on his wins. They are very legitimate. He is not going to finish elite guys with that though.

 

[Arm Barbarian]

Like Costa said before this fight, he's fairly one dimensional with what he does, but he's VERY good within that one dimension. He is excellent at range and using his defense and pressure to wear on you.

 

[Portland8242]

Strickland is the best MW in the world

 

[SCTwins]

Sean is almost like an offensive counterstriker. Complete with the shell and everything. He won't open up unless his opponent does first even though he is pressing the action.

Really seemed like he could've set down and fired off something at Costa along the fence but he is always content to just reset. Half of the fight is him walking slowly back to the center to meet his opponent after they circle off the cage.

 

[Killer Kadoogan]

Strickland is superior in striking to most opponents. If he's so boring, so plodding, so jabb-y, then the onus is on the opponent to do something about that boringness. But the fact that they can't, speaks volumes to his superiority.

 

[Thepaintbucket]

It's safe to say he's not going to go out of his way to look for a finish. If you jab for 10,000 hours guess what's going to happen? You're going to feel comfortable doing exactly that. Strickland made it to the top and beat Israel with this style. We just have to accept some fighters are more flexible than others .

It was a good technical fight regardless of the entertainment value. But yeah, Strickland lacks being dynamic and that's like the worst thing you can do in the eyes fans. Them knowing he's going to jab for five rounds isn't going to get people excited. You can insert him in 10 fights with the same results.

 

[Brendan The Hybrid Schaub]

sean is a limited fighter and it's a testament to how poor the division is, he has skills of course but he isn't some defensive mastermind

 

[CombatCyborg]

I was always annoyed that Strickland talks a big game about being violent and putting it all on the line, just for him to go out and put on some slower paced fights.

BUT he’s out there in everyone’s face when he fights. Always on the front foot, and pushing people back. He’s there to fight but neutralizes everyone’s offense. Granted, his teep body kicks don’t necessarily say “I’m here to fight you, come to me” but he’s still in their faces for a fight most of the time.

I feel like he'd be the #1 fighter if every fight was 10 rounds. Since he trains by sparring, he's training to not get hit more than he is to hit his opponent. It's very unique, and strange to watch. He gassed Costa and took him apart without hardly hitting him at all. All he did was apply forward pressure while defending himself, and still knocked Costa down twice. It seemed like Paulo went down because he was caught off guard and completely uncomfortable backing up and reacting to Sean, as opposed to being hit hard.

The crowd at the press conference was booing Paulo and chanting USA for Sean, but during the fight they were mostly quiet, neutral. I think people aren't sure exactly how to feel about Sean's fights. Yeah he goes to decision but he doesn't go to decision like anybody else. You always get the sense that he needs to attack, throw a roundhouse kick, touch his man up more, yet he appears to be controlling the fight through his pressure and defence. Costa was sweating so hard he looked like he'd been standing under a waterfall.

Whereas Sean, how I'd put it, he looked like he'd been walking a dog but the dog pulled on the leash a lot. He's in almost total control. He's a martial arts master, and at the same time he's putting on relatively boring fights. It's very odd.

 

[ILove4MinutesHyuna]

Stricklands right hand is one of the rarest moves in all of MMA

 

[Jon's Drug Dealer]

I will always love Strickland for emasculating Adesanya.