Sean Strickland cheated...

[ClinchmasterEdwards93291]

...by gameplanning perfectly and making all the changes he needed to for only the second time in his career. As someone who picked fluffy to beat him, his performance was perfect. controlled range off the backfoot perfectly with constant jabbing, and moved laterally very well despite his weird stance. Fluffy did pretty good on the feet but holy shit his endless wrestling pressure was completely shut down. If anyone in the division beats khamzat, strickland has the best shot against a grinding rider like khamzat. Now whos ready for sean to go right back to doing what he usually does after this fight just like last time?

 

[xhaydenx]

What changes did he make?

He sorta just did what he always does. I assumed it would work easily enough on someone like Fluffy, who pretty much just goes forward with basic strikes and tries to initiate grappling.

 

[Slapjit]

How dare you insult the Discipline of Sean Tarzan by accusing him of doing anything different than normal. The God of Freedom philosophy champions Minimalism and Consistency

 

[KavkazDominance]

Strickland would get destroyed by Chimagoat

 

[ClinchmasterEdwards93291]

What changes did he make?

He sorta just did what he always does. I assumed it would work easily enough on someone like Fluffy, who pretty much just goes forward with basic strikes and tries to initiate grappling.

he didnt allow himself to be pressured well at all looked very good on the backfoot which is not usual of him, moved laterally super well and controlled range much better compared to his fight against dricus which meant fluffy couldnt take a good shot. he also threw more in combination, with better mechanics and we saw him throw his right hand alot more. and he was flashing the knee and fighting in the clinch very intentionally which lead to the finish.

 

[wwkirk]

...by gameplanning perfectly and making all the changes he needed to for only the second time in his career. As someone who picked fluffy to beat him, his performance was perfect. controlled range off the backfoot perfectly with constant jabbing, and moved laterally very well despite his weird stance. Fluffy did pretty good on the feet but holy shit his endless wrestling pressure was completely shut down. If anyone in the division beats khamzat, strickland has the best shot against a grinding rider like khamzat. Now whos ready for sean to go right back to doing what he usually does after this fight just like last time?

Which fight did I miss where he fought much differently?

 

[ClinchmasterEdwards93291]

Strickland would get destroyed by Chimagoat

i cant really pick against khamzat but if anyone beats khamzat its this version of Strickland

 

[ClinchmasterEdwards93291]

Which fight did I miss where he fought much differently?

usually he looks like shit on the backfoot

 

[El Fernas]

Fought like every other fight, landed a knee and went for the finish, what was different up to that point?

 

[laleggenda27]

Relatively predictable outcome.

I've been saying it since the fight was announced: Fluffy is my guy, but Strickland is his worst stylistic matchup in the division. Strickland's defensive responsibility and cardio were always going to be a nightmare for Fluffy.

 

[Qays Stetkevich]

What changes did he make?

He sorta just did what he always does. I assumed it would work easily enough on someone like Fluffy, who pretty much just goes forward with basic strikes and tries to initiate grappling.

You're both kind of right. But yeah, he looked *just* like I expected him to, except that this time around the change he made (props to him) wat to actually go for the kill when he sensed blood. But the 2.5 rounds before that finishing flurry were textbook "play it safe" Strickland.

 

[Qays Stetkevich]

Relatively predictable outcome.

I've been saying it since the fight was announced: Fluffy is my guy, but Strickland is his worst stylistic matchup in the division. Strickland's defensive responsibility and cardio were always going to be a nightmare for Fluffy.

Agree with everything. Let me add something that I weirdly haven't seen mentioned once since the fight.
(I kind of expected as much, but still . . . . ) Sean looked HUGE compared to Fluffy. We knew he'd have the range, but there was so much talk about Fluffy's wrestling, and I remember the first time they closed the distance and went against the cage, I immediately thought/noticed: "Holy shit, Strickland absolutely dwarfs Flufffy. . . no way Fluffy will be able to out grapple or muscle Sean at all". And yeah. . . .basically zero successful wrestling offense from Fluffy.

 

[ClinchmasterEdwards93291]

You're both kind of right. But yeah, he looked *just* like I expected him to, except that this time around the change he made (props to him) wat to actually go for the kill when he sensed blood. But the 2.5 rounds before that finishing flurry were textbook "play it safe" Strickland.

idk i felt like he threw in combination, counterpunched, and just used his right hand alot more than he usually does. but yeah he seemed alot more intent on following up when he hurt fluffy and his finishing process looked better than when he hurt adesanya

 

[KavkazDominance]

i cant really pick against khamzat but if anyone beats khamzat its this version of Strickland

If anyone beats Khamzat it's somebody like Bo Nickal not Strickland lol

 

[laleggenda27]

Agree with everything. Let me add something that I weirdly haven't seen mentioned once since the fight.
(I kind of expected as much, but still . . . . ) Sean looked HUGE compared to Fluffy. We knew he'd have the range, but there was so much talk about Fluffy's wrestling, and I remember the first time they closed the distance and went against the cage, I immediately thought/noticed: "Holy shit, Strickland absolutely dwarfs Flufffy. . . no way Fluffy will be able to out grapple or muscle Sean at all". And yeah. . . .basically zero successful wrestling offense from Fluffy.

Fluffy has always been a small MW, and he's not a great wrestler. But he makes it work against larger opponents by using a pace/pressure they can't keep up with. So his first rounds are usually rocky (Fluffy is hittable), but his wrestling becomes effective as his opponents fade. It's somewhat similar to what Frankie did at LW.

The problem here is that Strickland is virtually impossible to speed up (distance control via jab/teep and defensive responsibility), and he has good cardio. So Fluffy's decent-but-not-great wrestling never takes effect, and he's stuck in a striking match against a larger, better striker.

 

[MDoza]

Fluffy is a bum with weak wrestling and a good motor that fought a bunch of bums with no wrestling.

Strickland has plenty of training partners that are better wrestlers than Hernandez.

 

[jsbx45]

What changes did he make?

He sorta just did what he always does. I assumed it would work easily enough on someone like Fluffy, who pretty much just goes forward with basic strikes and tries to initiate grappling.

He did actually go for a finish this time. Good call though.

 

[Azure]

They should have belts of TD on the main screen so I can not click into a thread.

 

[xhaydenx]

he didnt allow himself to be pressured well at all looked very good on the backfoot which is not usual of him, moved laterally super well and controlled range much better compared to his fight against dricus which meant fluffy couldnt take a good shot. he also threw more in combination, with better mechanics and we saw him throw his right hand alot more. and he was flashing the knee and fighting in the clinch very intentionally which lead to the finish.

Nah, looked the same to me, dog. Was the same as when he fought Costa. Just fought off the back foot with basic shots and circled off when he got too close to the cage.

Was a great performance against Fluffy tho.