Weakest Champ since Ping?

[ChimRichalds]

Until we see more, Strickland is a strong fucking champion. No one rolls Izzy like that.

 

[BowserJr]

Rockhold keeps his chin up in the air, his hands down, and moves in a straight line. If he used his kicks like he did in the Jacare fight, it would be a great clash of styles, and it would be a pick'em. If he tried boxing with Sean, he would get lit up and maybe stopped.

Dudes like Franklin and Bustamante come from a different era of the sport, and just because Strickland would beat them, doesn't mean they don't deserve respect.

Hendo would spam overhand rights while blocking punches with his face.

Machida would wait for an opening to blitz/counter, and would either catch Strickland coming in, or lose a boring decision. Same for Romero.

Anderson fight would be amazing.

Weidman and Jacare would be interesting, as they had grappling in their arsenal.

TRTor would try to bumrush Sean in the first round, and if he couldn't get him out of there, would wilt under the pressure, like the front-runner that he is.

Marquardt froze up in big fights, and for all of his TRT-fueled Tekken combos on Woodley and Wilson Goveia, he couldn't get out of his own way vs Okami.

Bisping would be a fun fight, I think he would lose a decision.

Bustamante boxing was better than Sean plus grappling

Franklin striking more diverse and powerful but slightly weak chin against power hitters

Rockhold weak chin but he fought more powerful strikers in his prime no problem

Hendo was not an H bomb spammer in his prime. Maybe you didn't seem him prior to UFC

Weidman and Jacare own him on the ground

Machida blitz him on a counter

Romero 1 shot KOs him in a boring fight before that

Maybe right with Marquardt unless it's a preliminary fight lol

TRTor would blitz Sean's 0 foot work 0 grappling ass

 

[BowserJr]

So did that make Izzy weak too? Pretty sure khamzat and Bo would ragdoll Izzy too

Yes

 

[IronGolem007]

I know you're trolling but just in case some actually believe you. Rob lost to Stephen at WW.

He did much worse at that weight. Clearly there was diminished returns by cutting. Similar to Rumble.

Past MW divisions were much better. That part is true

Robert Whittaker will be easily dispatched by Strickland, Pereira, Adesanya III

He is not elite.

 

[Minnja]

Silva
Machida
Romero
Wiedman
Rockhold
Vitor
Jacare
Hendo
Franklin
Bustamante
Marquardt
Bisping

Red= I think Sean loses
Green= I think Sean wins
Yellow= think it goes either way

I think a lot of people underestimate Sean do to his Pereira loss and close fight with Cannonier and because his style is not flashy or particularly dangerous looking. I don't think it's very easy at all to look great against him, and it's not easy to KO him or grapplefuck him. Actually I can't really remember him getting grapplefucked at all except maybe the Usman fight (honestly can't remember that fight at all) but I think it's fair to say he was not in his prime back then. MW has generally not been a wrestler heavy division, and so I think he actually matches up well with a ton of the former champions/former elite fighters of the division. But at the same time I think due to his style he is also susceptible to close decisions that could go either way. I have a tough time seeing Hendo actually land an H-bomb on him and in general I don't think any of these guys really put him away except Anderson, but even that I'm not too sure about. But I can see guys like Hendo, Vitor, Romero stealing rounds with big moments despite not being able to KO him. But I'd probably favor Strickland to get the decisions against them.

 

[IncreaseDanaPay]

Sean would walk down and out box all of the division

 

[djason1988]

No respect for Strickland, just beat the new supposed GOAT with ease. He is tough as nails, great defense, amazing jab and slick boxing, but the most important thing is Colby level endurance. He could hold his own with plenty of those guys.
Silva loses to him
Machida Probably loses but Machida was a better LHW was never that dominant at MW
Romero Could see Romero gassing or losing by decision, 50/50 fight
Wiedman 50/50 fight Strickland could easily outpoint him
Rockhold Rockhold gasses most likely have Strickland favored.
Vitor Gasses have Strickland slightly favored.
Jacare Have Strickland favored
Hendo Prime Hendo would be favored but could get outpointed
Franklin Close fight, Strickland might take him to deep water.
Bustamante Strickland favored
Marquardt Strickland too durable for him.
Bisping Good fight could go either way, both great endurance.

Nobody who's been around the sport for a bit had izzy as a GOAT. He had glaring holes that was exploited by Jan and periera, and before them gastelum and whittaker though he still won. I'll be the first to admit that I didn't expect strickland to be the guy to beat him, but he took advantage of those same holes.

 

[HaulParris]

Bustamante boxing was better than Sean plus grappling

Franklin striking more diverse and powerful but slightly weak chin against power hitters

Rockhold weak chin but he fought more powerful strikers in his prime no problem

Hendo was not an H bomb spammer in his prime. Maybe you didn't seem him prior to UFC

Weidman and Jacare own him on the ground

Machida blitz him on a counter

Romero 1 shot KOs him in a boring fight before that

Maybe right with Marquardt unless it's a preliminary fight lol

TRTor would blitz Sean's 0 foot work 0 grappling ass

Sherbro, I'm familiar with Decision Dan / Hollywood Henderson

 

[Senzo Tanaka]

We are in a transitional era. I don't think there are any many stand out, truly great fighters now. Almost everyone is on an equal playing field or just close enough where they can win on any given night. Look at Grasso/Val and Nunes/Pena for instance. Years ago, they'd just dominate but nowadays, everyone is pretty well rounded and can hold their own.

It's weird seeing pretty generic fighters like Strickland, Pantoja and Hill as champions but that's what happens when everyone catches up.

 

[Your Two Braincells]

Bustamante boxing was better than Sean plus grappling

Franklin striking more diverse and powerful but slightly weak chin against power hitters

Rockhold weak chin but he fought more powerful strikers in his prime no problem

Hendo was not an H bomb spammer in his prime. Maybe you didn't seem him prior to UFC

Weidman and Jacare own him on the ground

Machida blitz him on a counter

Romero 1 shot KOs him in a boring fight before that

Maybe right with Marquardt unless it's a preliminary fight lol

TRTor would blitz Sean's 0 foot work 0 grappling ass

You’re doing the exact same thing thousands of people just did with Izzy vs Strickland except even worse since you’re using Hypothetical match ups and saying Strickland loses most of em, dunno how you can call someone else a troll for pointing out whittaker lost to Wonderboy when you go by this type of logic.

 

[RockyLockridge]

we just had jamalal hill 6 months ago remember

 

[BowserJr]

We are in a transitional era. I don't think there are any many stand out, truly great fighters now. Almost everyone is on an equal playing field or just close enough where they can win on any given night. Look at Grasso/Val and Nunes/Pena for instance. Years ago, they'd just dominate but nowadays, everyone is pretty well rounded and can hold their own.

It's weird seeing pretty generic fighters like Strickland, Pantoja and Hill as champions but that's what happens when everyone catches up.

This the only thing difference between previous eras and now.

The generic fighters now are better than past one. That and the top 2-3 are equal to the best from before maybe even a step down and there are fewer absolutely elite ones

 

[scytheavatar]

Just being able to use the philly shell effectively already makes Strickland elite and one of the most skilled strikers out there. The philly shell is not some magic sauce, it has many weaknesses and you need tremendous awareness and reactions to make up for them. This is why you don't see every MMA striker use it despite how Mayweather has been seen as boxing GOAT thanks to it.

 

[jspn]

these forums occasionally make me feel like i have aids

 

[glavinator]

Nick Diaz had wayyyy better hands than Strickland.


That’s all I wanted to say about this.

Yet somehow any version of Izzy beats any version of nick. He had dog shit defense comparatively

 

[jeff7b9]

Just being able to use the philly shell effectively already makes Strickland elite and one of the most skilled strikers out there. The philly shell is not some magic sauce, it has many weaknesses and you need tremendous awareness and reactions to make up for them. This is why you don't see every MMA striker use it despite how Mayweather has been seen as boxing GOAT thanks to it.

From my observations the Philly Shell works best as a part of a larger tool set.

There are some aspects to it which I could see translating well to MMA, particularly the low lead hand aiding in TDD and being positioned for undertooks which could be used in the clinch as well.

But other aspects are problematic to the extent that I think you need to make significant adjustments. Specifically the rear glove as a primary block for the left (lead) hook (and kicks), as the origin was utilizing a much larger glove which blocks more surface area.

The great boxers I think of who used it, and this supports that it is for ADVANCED defensive technicians, seemed to mix it in with high guard, cross guard or occasionally mummy guard.
Some also made their own styles which mixed in crouch/pop tactics. Mayweather made his own variation using a more sideways stance and more footwork.

Strickland definitely utilizes the energy efficient aspects. The plodding footwork, minimal slip movement, the quick straight right cross counter. Sean uses a decent amount of high guard, utilizing both hands to parry punches, which I think is a natural and intelligent adaptation.

Sean used his legs to do a decent amount of his feints, which I think is a BRILLIANT adaptation of the defense scheme, as it allowed him to keep his defensive "boxing" guard intact while keeping Izzy guessing and pushing Izzy back and controlling distance.

Honestly it could prove to be a difficult nut to crack for Sean's opponents. It is tough to hit a defensively responsible dance partner that doesn't take uneccesary risks, has cardio for days and controls range and pace extremely well.

The test for Sean will come when he faces opponents who can force a firefight and fight moving forward. They will have to walk thru his punches to do so but bigger stronger guys like Dricus or Sean's new buddy Alex can do that.

Certainly fun to see some of the old school boxing tactics applied to MMA.

Dominic Cruz did some great things applying Willie Pep style footwork, V steps, crouch/pop movement.

Yoel has used cross guard effectively, but perhaps overly defensive.

TJ mastered using shifting to create offensive combinations moving forward or backwards that allowed his to continuously attack from either stance from a variety of angles. He also picked up some tricks training with Vasily Lomachencko and mimicking Dominic Cruz for TAM.
TJ has a series on YouTube of striking technique and drill videos which demonstrate these techniques, and how to utilize them in sparring, training & fighting.
He teaches a "switch cross" which seems like a viable alternative to a superman punch (for switch stance strikers)

 

[pankrat]

Don't get me wrong. Ping was a good fighter but no one really disputes that his win was a little lucky and that it was a travesty to have him defend against an aging top 15 fighter and retired WW.

Sean is decent. Reminds of Nick Diaz without the grappling.

Does anyone really think he'd beat any of these guys when they were top 10

Silva
Machida
Romero
Wiedman
Rockhold
Vitor
Jacare
Hendo
Franklin
Bustamante
Marquardt
Bisping

I dont even see him getting past the likes of Sonnen, Okami or Kennedy

Costa probably KOs him
Bo and Khamzat grapple fuck him

Shit I could even see MW Robbie Lawler KO him

When you look at it like that you realize Izzys reign wwas over a weaker division than the Silva era

Sonnen and Okami were actually superior to Marquardt

And you obviously underrate Stricklan's skills. Probably because you dont understand them

 

[Young Calf Kick]

Costa probably KOs him

fucking lol

 

[AdamWarlock]

who the fuck is ping?

my uncle

 

[AstralPanda]

Strickland has the best defense in the division's history by a country mile. Utilizes the Philly shell, while simultaneously nullifying kicks at an extremely high level

His reads, reactions and reflexes are elite. He manages distance very intelligently.

For a counter striker, he leaves almost no openings. And beyond that, he's just very difficult to hit in general. His style is like Adesanya's kryptonite.

Has one of the best jabs in the sport currently.

Beyond that, he's a dog with an indomitable will.

He brings more to the table than you're giving him credit for.

You can tell the last year he's spent sparring pro boxers, along with his training with Pereira has paid dividends.