Strickland really took the hype away from the Izzy Dricus fight

[ExitLUPin]

Its still a great fight but imagine if Sean didn't fight either? He dropped, dogwalked and dethroned Izzy. Had him having DUIs and contemplating retirement. Then he defends against Dricus and goes to a SD where Dricus face was mangled and many scored it for Sean. Now Izzy and Dricus are fighting....

Imagine if it was Izzy after finally beating Alex and then Dricus after stopping Rob Whittaker the other great MW of this era who only lost to Izzy @ MW. The hype and momentum from both would have been insane and that is what was supposed to happen.... But now we just got a great fight but the hype is light because Sean made both look really bad and killed the momentum for this matchup.

 

[Gabe]

I thought that Sean was can crushing in the Apex during Covid beating guys like Jack Marshman and Uriah Hall by decision. Little did I know he can be dominant and competitive against any guy in the division.

 

[flowoftruth]

not really .. if anything it makes the fight more interesting .. Izzy has had a lot of time off and its exciting to see how he comes back in what is a make or break fight for him

 

['Suga Daddy']

I mean, both guys are better than Sean, think if we see rematches they will both have better performances than the first time.

 

[whocares]

This matchup had such little hype when Izzy was still champ it wouldn't have even been booked, and even if DDP had gone on to decision Sean and KO Rob the same as he did, the narrative would still be that this guy has nothing for Izzy and would be looked at as just another title defense against a guy who is outclassed. Thanks to Stricklands dominating performance over Izzy, this is now a pick em and has made the matchup infinitely more compelling. It's so intense that Izzy is crying about it.

I don't know where you're getting "hype is light" from. This is easily one of them most anticipated matchups of the year.

 

[ExitLUPin]

not really .. if anything it makes the fight more interesting .. Izzy has had a lot of time off and its exciting to see how he comes back in what is a make or break fight for him

His time off wouldn't even be a factor if it took place when it was scheduled.

Izzy was coming off KOTY against his nemesis in Alex. Dricus manhandled Rob who'd only lost to Izzy @ MW. They were clearly top 2 MWs with HUGE momentum.

Then Sean dropped and dogwalked Izzy and arguably beat Dricus. He put a big dent on the fight. Izzy instead of coming off KOTY against Alex is coming off time off after getting dogwalked by Sean.

 

[ExitLUPin]

This matchup had such little hype when Izzy was still champ it wouldn't have even been booked, and even if DDP had gone on to decision Sean and KO Rob the same as he did, the narrative would still be that this guy has nothing for Izzy and would be looked at as just another title defense against a guy who is outclassed. Thanks to Stricklands dominating performance over Izzy, this is now a pick em and has made the matchup infinitely more compelling. It's so intense that Izzy is crying about it.

I don't know where you're getting "hype is light" from. This is easily one of them most anticipated matchups of the year.

You have poor memory regarding this. Dricus just manhandled Rob Whittaker who only lost to Izzy @ MW. Then Izzy came into the cage and they had a viral faceoff with racial tensions.



The hype was HOOGE. And Dana was literally booking the fight but Dricus opted to get surgery for an injury and that's how Sean skipped the line and ruined the plans when he was supposed to be a tuneup for Izzy leading to Dricus fight.

 

[Killer Kadoogan]

Its still a great fight but imagine if Sean didn't fight either? He dropped, dogwalked and dethroned Izzy. Had him having DUIs and contemplating retirement. Then he defends against Dricus and goes to a SD where Dricus face was mangled and many scored it for Sean. Now Izzy and Dricus are fighting....

Imagine if it was Izzy after finally beating Alex and then Dricus after stopping Rob Whittaker the other great MW of this era who only lost to Izzy @ MW. The hype and momentum from both would have been insane and that is what was supposed to happen.... But now we just got a great fight but the hype is light because Sean made both look really bad and killed the momentum for this matchup.

yup sean beat both, outstriked, outlanded. this is just #2 champion.

 

[whocares]

You have poor memory regarding this. Dricus just manhandled Rob Whittaker who only lost to Izzy @ MW. Then Izzy came into the cage and they had a viral faceoff with racial tensions.



The hype was HOOGE. And Dana was literally booking the fight but Dricus opted to get surgery for an injury and that's how Sean skipped the line and ruined the plans when he was supposed to be a tuneup for Izzy leading to Dricus fight.

The hype wasn't huge at all because the consensus was that Dricus was a goofy overachiever who would've gotten smoked by Izzy. All of the hype was surrounding this dumbass post fight nonsense. Before Izzy got knocked down a peg nobody was giving Dricus a chance against him. The hype for this fight is huge now because of how all these events unfolded. Had it not, Dricus was just going to join the same template as Vettori, Costa, Cannonier of guys you make the fight with because it's their turn but aren't on his level, those were ho hum buildups and this would be no different aside from the trash talk which honestly, who cares.

All this doubt and suspense wouldn't exist at all if this was still Izzy the dominant champ coming in. Strickland did the division a huge favor.

 

[Carrotman23]

This matchup had such little hype when Izzy was still champ it wouldn't have even been booked, and even if DDP had gone on to decision Sean and KO Rob the same as he did, the narrative would still be that this guy has nothing for Izzy and would be looked at as just another title defense against a guy who is outclassed. Thanks to Stricklands dominating performance over Izzy, this is now a pick em and has made the matchup infinitely more compelling. It's so intense that Izzy is crying about it.

I don't know where you're getting "hype is light" from. This is easily one of them most anticipated matchups of the year.

This 1000% . OP is missing the point, a huge part of intrigue with this fight are the unanswered questions about Izzy.
Is he the same guy ? Or will he look like a shadow of himself like in the Strickland fight?

Its the opposite of what you are saying OP. Its in part because of Strickland that this fight is so interesting.

 

[BEATDOWNS]

Um No! him getting a title shot coming off a loss kills the momentum.

 

[IDGETKTFO]

I mean, if Izzy wins, it makes an interesting rematch with Desean.

 

[Street Bishop]

The last thing we need is Sean Strickland in another 5 round fight. Even though I had him beating DDP, I'm grateful that passive jab spamming bore is no longer champion.

 

[Striker Fox]

Khamzat is gonna smash all of them anyways. Strcikland knows this

 

[Poirierfan]

Some people don't like hearing this, but Sean should still be champ. He beat DDP imo. Either way, I think whoever wins loses to Sean eventually.

 

[Poirierfan]

Khamzat is gonna smash all of them anyways. Strcikland knows this

The guy that never fought a legit MW and gasses after one rd? The Whitaker fight will say a lot about the hair lip either way.

 

[DecisionSplit]

Some people don't like hearing this, but Sean should still be champ. He beat DDP imo. Either way, I think whoever wins loses to Sean eventually.

This title fight is practically being promted as a #1 contender fight to go against Strickland. DDP is a fresh match. Adesanya winning would make him the second three time champion in UFC history. UFC basically has already announced that Sean is next so we will see him fight for the belt probably close to the end of the year.

 

[Foghorn Leghorn]

You have poor memory regarding this. Dricus just manhandled Rob Whittaker who only lost to Izzy @ MW. Then Izzy came into the cage and they had a viral faceoff with racial tensions.



The hype was HOOGE. And Dana was literally booking the fight but Dricus opted to get surgery for an injury and that's how Sean skipped the line and ruined the plans when he was supposed to be a tuneup for Izzy leading to Dricus fight.

The hype wasn't huge at all because the consensus was that Dricus was a goofy overachiever who would've gotten smoked by Izzy. All of the hype was surrounding this dumbass post fight nonsense. Before Izzy got knocked down a peg nobody was giving Dricus a chance against him. The hype for this fight is huge now because of how all these events unfolded. Had it not, Dricus was just going to join the same template as Vettori, Costa, Cannonier of guys you make the fight with because it's their turn but aren't on his level, those were ho hum buildups and this would be no different aside from the trash talk which honestly, who cares.

All this doubt and suspense wouldn't exist at all if this was still Izzy the dominant champ coming in. Strickland did the division a huge favor.

Gentlemen, I have brought you the receipts. I personally felt the hype was real, more in line with @ExitLUPin.

However, @whocares has history on his side, though perhaps the odds might have moved over time:

Israel Adesanya opens as huge favorite over Dricus Du Plessis in UFC title fight

Israel Adesanya is a comfortable betting favoring over Dricus Du Plessis after the South African fighter secured his spot as the No. 1 contender with a stoppage win over Robert Whittaker at UFC 290

www.mmafighting.com

But also, @Carrotman23 is correct when he says "a huge part of intrigue with this fight are the unanswered questions about Izzy."

 

[kirsky]

He didint took any hype, simply coz noone cares about Strickland .Duplesis made his own legacy by dispatching The Reaper... Best of luck.

 

[biscuitsbrah]

Well Dricus made both of them cry so…