Sean had the tools to win

[Big Tuppy Hole]

He does counter other people's boxing well, and coutered DuPlessis well several times in this fight.

DuPlessis doesn't come to box though, so for someone with Sean's skillset, he is a big bag of problems. He is constantly in and back out to kicking range, throwing a lot of different techniques.

I don't think much of Dricus as a kickboxer, but the one thing I really like him doing in mma is varying the kick target with consistency. Through all 5 rounds, he was throwing lows, mids and highs, stomping and spinning. As good as he is checking kicks and seeing things in general, Sean was stuggling to adjust and establish his own rhythm. Strickland is a rhythm fighter and here he was fighting an extremely awkward rhythm breaker.

I agree with alot of what your saying but tonight there was multiple times he could of landed a short straight on a reaching Dricus but he never even attempted it. Foursome who uses a modified philly shell he never uses a short cross when he has some reaching and out of position. Instead he'll wait and wing a shot.

 

[CPH]

I agree with alot of what your saying but tonight there was multiple times he could of landed a short straight on a reaching Dricus but he never even attempted it. Foursome who uses a modified philly shell he never uses a short cross when he has some reaching and out of position. Instead he'll wait and wing a shot.

Strickland is lauded for his boxing but the truth is, he has some pretty bad habits when going backwards. Maybe because he is quite slow-footed?

I guess I have to revise my statement regarding his countering ability. He has a good eye and can land nice counters, but not when he is being overrun, which is what Dricus was doing to him over and over again.

 

[Big Tuppy Hole]

Strickland is lauded for his boxing but the truth is, he has some pretty bad habits when going backwards. Maybe because he is quite slow-footed?

I guess I have to revise my statement regarding his countering ability. He has a good eye and can land nice counters, but not when he is being overrun, which is what Dricus was doing to him over and over again.

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I agree

 

[WillyWarminski]

I'm a biggest Strickland's fan but... cut him... lol

Maybe he is afraid to get knocked out after the Pereira's fight

Maybe he just want the paychecks and is looking for longevity

Idk

Maybe his fights should be 1 round with no time limit, so the opponent would be more urgent to finish and press Sean and Sean with his style just surviving and sparring until the other get tired

But I think Strickland should hit the gym, idk if it's because of Dricus's looks but maybe Sean could get stronger and get more KO power

I couldn't imagine anything worse than a 1 round Strickland. The break between rounds gives me reprieve.

 

[Marko Polo]

You don't see the connection between him being less fatigued than Dricus, and him throwing lighter strikes and less kicks?

His defense is so good, because he's so risk-averse. His cardio is so good, because he is mostly jabbing. No headkicks, not many explosive movements.

If he's more aggressive, his defense suffers. If he fights with more intensity, his cardio suffers.

At this point, I think it's unlikely that he will change his approach. It's so ingrained in his style.

He is a championship level fighter regardless.

 

[chinarice]

Sean in fact didn't have enough tools to win.

Jabs and teeps weren't going to win him this fight.

These guys point fighting to decision losses is absolutely silly to me though.

 

[188912345]

He is a championship level fighter regardless.

He's a very good fighter who put a clinic on Adesanya and had a very competitive first fight with Dricus. He definitely made the most of his opportunity to fight for the title, and he will be making good money for the rest of his career because of that.

I still think he's a coin flip type of fighter against the elite (which is still very impressive), but I don't think he will ever fight for a title again.

His fights after Dricus will be interesting to see if his opponents will try to copy some of the things Dricus did to beat him.

 

[JustforBROCK]

He's a good fighter with mental hang ups. As the kids say, sometimes it be like that.

 

[Edward Henry Greb]

You don't see the connection between him being less fatigued than Dricus, and him throwing lighter strikes and less kicks?

His defense is so good, because he's so risk-averse. His cardio is so good, because he is mostly jabbing. No headkicks, not many explosive movements.

If he's more aggressive, his defense suffers. If he fights with more intensity, his cardio suffers.

At this point, I think it's unlikely that he will change his approach. It's so ingrained in his style.

This is perfectly said.

Sean Strickland = Risk Averse.

Period.

He is a fighter who's not actually a fighter. He almost avoids actually fighting with his style, constantly trying to force his opponent backward, and keep himself out of an actual fistic exchange, where damage might occur.

Sean is not looking to throw leveraged, actually dangerous shots ... his is the most pussified style I've ever seen. Like perpetual jab-sparring. "Working on the jab" for five rounds.

It's a tragedy they put Weili Zhang on this card, which was otherwise boring AF.

 

[joy2day]

ROFL at this thread. Did you watch the fight? It was a shutout.

What this fight showed was that he DOESN'T have the skills to beat DDP.

You could plausibly have said that after the first fight, but DDP proved who the better fighter was with his improvements in this fight.

Plodding forward with the jab is literally the only offense Sean has.

Also, I thought Sean was going to "fight to the death."

 

[yodog]

Sean had a clear hand speed advantage and was landing more jabs on Dricus throughout the fight. He looked a lot less fatigued than Dricus too but seemed comfortable fighting the same way he did last time, whereas Dricus tailored his approach and kept Sean guessing.

Which tools? His punches mostly hit DDP's guard. He fatigued less because he didn't throw shit while DDP tried to kill him. He did kind of throw a bit in R4, but DDP stole it by breaking his face.

 

[AzorAhai1]

It's the same thing with Strickland every time. He doesn't carry enough power to hurt opponents, and he doesn't mix his striking up. He barely throws leg kicks, and he throws with about 50/60% power. He is predictable, and I'm at a point where I just get bored of watching him fight. He's a frustrating fighter. His fight IQ vs Pereira was terrible.

 

[Harlekin]

Sean fought at DDP's range.
DDP occupied him with kicks.


Sean did not much do what his trainers told him to.

 

[Pancake Sprawl]

i don't know why people keep saying he's so defensively sound. he's straight up turtling. defensively sound means you're not getting hit, it doesn't mean getting hit and acting like it didn't hit him. defensively sound means you're not losing practically every rd.

if he was so defensively sound his nose wouldn't have gotten broke, and he wouldn't have so many split decisions. Anderson Silva in his prime was defensively sound, because guys weren't touching him and he was smoking them. Max Holloway who so many people think is "just iron chin defense" is defensively sound because Topuria is the only guy who was able to hit him with a powerful combination in all his years of fighting in UFC. Strickland is just turtling and he's not even particularly good at that because he just lost again to the same guy so many people say is sloppy and terrible. if he's so terrible and Strickland is so defensively sound why is he getting his ass kicked by said terrible guy?

this is not the face of a "defensively sound" fighter.

 

[Rataria]

Hes got heart and will . Its his application that needs fixing

 

[HHJ]

i don't know why people keep saying he's so defensively sound. he's straight up turtling. defensively sound means you're not getting hit, it doesn't mean getting hit and acting like it didn't hit him. defensively sound means you're not losing practically every rd.

if he was so defensively sound his nose wouldn't have gotten broke, and he wouldn't have so many split decisions. Anderson Silva in his prime was defensively sound, because guys weren't touching him and he was smoking them. Max Holloway who so many people think is "just iron chin defense" is defensively sound because Topuria is the only guy who was able to hit him with a powerful combination in all his years of fighting in UFC. Strickland is just turtling and he's not even particularly good at that because he just lost again to the same guy so many people say is sloppy and terrible. if he's so terrible and Strickland is so defensively sound why is he getting his ass kicked by said terrible guy?

this is not the face of a "defensively sound" fighter.
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Yes Strickland is defensivley sound. Even in this fight he was not easy to land clean shots on.

The kicks really gave him hell. He did not expect that and it kept him from countering as much as he did in the first fight

He got outsmarted by DDP in the end. When his nose got broken, it was while he was opening up. Which shows with good reason why he didnt throw as much as he probably wanted to.

 

[TheGreatA]

It feels like he spends the whole fight trying to set up punches that he never throws. He outjabs people but there's never a straight right hand or a left hook or an uppercut to follow it up.

The point of establishing the jab is to make it easier to land other punches. Strickland just keeps jabbing.

 

[BigSexy444]

Strickland's fighting style is the complete opposite of his promo style and persona.

 

[Goatenstein]

So Sean should have won but decided not to? What a dumb argument.

 

[HHJ]

It feels like he spends the whole fight trying to set up punches that he never throws. He outjabs people but there's never a straight right hand or a left hook or an uppercut to follow it up.

The point of establishing the jab is to make it easier to land other punches. Strickland just keeps jabbing.

he did follow up a few times

but i think he got his nose broken in one of those attempts